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1 



SUMMER 



SCOTLAND. 



BY JACOB ABBOTT. 



ffti) Enflrabinfls. 




NEW YORK:. 

HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS, 

S2 CLIFF STREET. 

184 8. 



Eiitered, according to Act of Conefress, in the year one thousand 
eight hundred and forty-eight, by 

Harper & Brothers, 

in the Clerk's OlEce of the District Court of the Southern District 
of New York. 






PREFACE. 



Having spent a month or two during the last sum- 
mer in rambling among the Highlands of Scotland, I 
have written the following account of my adventures 
for the amusement of my pupils, and of such other 
readers as may honor these pages with a pertisal. 
The narrative is strictly a personal one. The work 
does not pretend to give a geographical, historical, or 
statistical account of Scotland, but only a simple nar- 
ration of the adventures of a traveler rambling in a 
romantic country in search of recreation and enjoy- 
ment alone. In writing the account, I have attempted 
nothing more than to reproduce for the reader a pic- 
ture of the scenes, such as they were, which presented 
themselves to my attention. The book, therefore, 
claims no higher province than that of offering a ra- 
tional source of entertainment to the reader in leisure 
hours. 

Abbolt^s Institution, New York, Jan., 1818. 



CONTENTS. 

LETTER I. 

CROSSING THE ATLANTIC. 

Parting. — Description of the Ship. — Daily Routine. — Barial of the Dead 
— Making Sail. — Heaving the Log. — Divine Service at Sea. — The 
Lotteiy Page 13 

LETTER n. 

LANDING IN ENGLAND. 

The Channel. — Scenery. — Landing. — Scenes at the Custom-house. — 
Description of an English Inn 43 

LETTER IIL 

A RIDE THROUGH THE MANUFACTURING DISTRICT. 

The Liverpool Dock. — English Rail-way Station. — English and Ameri- 
can Ideas in respect to Arrangements for Traveling. — Sceneiy of the 
Manufactm-ing District. — Arrival at York 57 

LETTER IV. 

DIVINE SERVICE IN THE MINSTER AT YORK. 

Description of York. — The Cathedral. — Divine Service in the Minster 
— The Communion. — Influence of Ceremonies and Costumes . 70 

LETTER V. 

THE COLLIERIES. 

Newcastle and its Environs. — Visit to a Coal-pit. — Descent into the 
Mine. — Description of the Interior. — General Plan. — Arrangements 
for raising the Coal. — System of Ventilation. — Scenery at the Mouth 
of the Tweed 87 



X CONTENTS. 

LETTER VI. 

ENTRANCE INTO SCOTLAND. 

Desci-iption of Berwick-upon-Tweed. — English Electioneering. — Forti- 
fications of the Town. — The Salmon Fishery. — The Mer.se. — Rail-way 
along the Cliffs Page 115 

LETTER VIL 

Arthur's seat at Edinburgh. 

Description of Edinburgh. — Ascent of Arthur's Seat. — St. Anthony's 
Chapel and Well. — View from the Summit. — Interesting Localities 
in the Neighborhood 131 

LETTER VIII. 

HOLYROOD. 

Situation of the Palace. — Galleiy of Portraits. — Queen Mary's Rooms. 
— Royal Chapel. — Visitors and Guides ..... 148 

LETTER IX. 

LINLITHGOW. 

Description of the Village. — The Palace. — Various ancient Apartments. 
— Queen Mary's Room. — Emblems of ancient and modem Times. — 
Environs of the Palace, and little Guide ..... 165 

LETTER X. 

ENTERING THE HIGHLANDS. 

Situation of Loch Katrine and Loch Lomond. — Entrance to the High- 
lands at Callander. — The Trosachs. — Ben An and Ben Venue. — 
— Steam-boat on Loch Katrine. — Scenery of the Glens. — Character 
of the Population 179 

LETTER XL 

LOCH LOMOND. 

First View of Loch Lomond. — Steam Navigation on the Loch. — Tour- 
ists. — An evening Walk on the Shore. — Ascent of Ben Lomond. — 
Description of a Highland Wedding across the Loch . . 194 



CONTENTS. XI 

LETTER XII. 

STAFFA AND lONA. 

Desciiption of Oban. — Private Lodgings at Oban. — Announcements. — 
Sail to Zona. — Scenes at the Landing, and visiting the Ruins. — 
Staffa. — Landing through the Surf. — The great Cavern. — Return to 
Oban Page 222 

LETTER XIII. 

BEN NEVIS. 

Situation of Fort WilHam. — View of the Lochs, and of Glen Nevis. — 
Ascent of Ben Nevis. — Operations of the Sappers. — Precipices and 
Chasms. — Descent of the Mountain. — A Highland Legend . 242 

LETTER XIV. 

THE CALEDONIAN CANAL. 

Description of the Valley in which it lies. — Ride in the Stage-coach. — 
Steamer on the Canal. — Fort Augustiis and the suiToundiug Scenery. 
— Inverness. — Field of Culloden ...... 263 

LETTER XV. 

LOCH LEVEN CASTLE. 

Region m which Loch Leven lies. — Account of Queen Maiy's Impris- 
onment. — Situation and Structure of the Castle. — The Guide's Account 
of the Queen's Escape. — Souvenirs ...... 278 

LETTER XVI. 

EDINBURGH CASTLE. 

The High Street of Edinburgh. — Situation of the Castle. — General Ar- 
rangements. — History of the Scottish Regalia. — Airangements for 
the public Exhibition of them. — The Crown Room, and great oak 
Chest 296 

LETTER XVII. 

LEAVING SCOTLAND. 

The Stage-coach. — English and American Ideas. — English Constitution. 
— Different Views in America and England in respect to a hereditary 
Aristocracy. — American Ideas of Equality. — Gretna Green. — Arri- 
val at Windermere. — Erroneous Impressions in England respecting 
American Principles of Government 311 



ENGRAVINGS. 



View of the Landing of a Party from a Steamer at the Island of 
Staffa. ......... Frontispiece. 

View in the Neighborhood of the Collieries .... Page 95 

View of the Palace of Holyrood House, with Salisbury Crags and 
Arthui''s Seat in the Distance ....... 149 

The Wedding Paity on Loch Lomond, with Ben Lomond in the Dis- 
tance 213 

Ben Nevis, and the Enti-ance uito the Caledonian Canal . . 249 

View of the Castle of Loch Leven 285 



SUMMER 



SCOTLAID, 



SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 



LETTER I. 

CROSSING THE ATLANTIC. 



Anticipations. Hour of departure. 

SETTING SAIL. 

July 1, 1847. 

On looking forward to the prospect of crossing the 
Atlantic for the first time, some months, usually, before 
the day of embarkation, the mind is strongly excited 
with anticipations of pleasure. To visit Europe is the 
early hope and ambition of almost every cultivated 
spirit in America ; and when the idea of wandering 
through the streets of London, of visiting the Louvre 
and the Palais Royal, of ascending the Alps — an idea 
which has, through the long years of childhood and 
youth, appeared only as a romantic vision — comes at 
last to assume the form of an approaching reality, the 
pulse beats quicker, and the heart bounds with enthusi- 
astic impatience to have the hour of departure arrive. 

But when it does really arrive, it generally brings 
with it a great change of feeling. The excitement and 
the enthusiasm give way to an oppressive sense of care 
and responsibility, which the prospect of so long an ab- 
sence and so extended a journey can not fail to inspire. 
This sense of responsibility is increased by the long 
and careful preparation necessary, by the formal pro- 

B 



14 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

Commercial travelers. The steamer. Serious thoughts. 

vision which it is prudent to make against the possibil- 
ity of never returning, and by the parting from friends, 
whom there is much to suggest to us we may perhaps 
never see again. All these things damp the enthusi- 
asm sadly at the last hour. Then, besides, there is a 
sort of ponderous momentum, as it were, in all the ar- 
rangements and movements connected with the sailing 
of an Atlantic steamer, which impresses the mind with 
the idea that going forth in her is an event of some 
mysterious magnitude and importance. The solid, 
massive structure of the ship ; the obvious preparations 
for the encounter of danger on the deep ; the foreign 
expression given to the scene by the uniforms of the 
officers and the costumes of the seamen; the thundering 
voice of the steam-pipe ; these, and other indications like 
them, make the voyager feel that he is embarked in a 
very serious enterprise. There are, it is true, a large 
class of commercial men who are always going to and 
fro, from one continent to the other, and who are equally 
at home whether in England or America, or on the 
ocean between, who do not probably feel these influ- 
ences at all. But in respect to the rest — the travelers 
— those who go only as visitors to Europe, whether 
for instruction or for pleasure, they form generally a 
sad and sober party, as they proceed to sea. The hus- 
band and father forgets the Alps, and thinks of the wife 
and the children whom he is leaving behind him. The 
bride, while she clings more closely to her young hus- 
band's arm than ever, remembers her mother and her 
sisters, and the happy home of her childhood, from 
which she realizes that she has now been finally sun- 
dered ; and if there chance to be one who has no direct 
domestic ties, he feels a new intensity in homelessness 



CROSSING THE ATLANTIC. 15 

All ashore. The parting. The wharf. 



and solitude as he goes forth among strangers over 
the wide ocean alone.* 

As might naturally be expected, then, the company 
stand sadly and seriously upon the saloon deck when 
the last bell rings to warn " All ashore." The wharf 
is covered with a crowd — strangers to one another, 
but bound together for a moment now by one common 
feeling — interest in the parting ship, and in some one 
or more of its now imprisoned inmates. Every one's 
heart is full. Tears come into many eyes, and stand 
all ready to come into many more. The company on 
the land give three cheers, which their parting friends 

* This sense of isolation and loneliness is not diminished much as tho 
voyage advances, and the travelers have opportunity to become acquainted 
with one another, for such acquaintance rai'ely ripens into any real or cor- 
dial friendship. There are exceptions, it is true, but generally the solitary 
traveler, or the little party, who feel alone at the commencement of tha 
voyage, feel still more alone among the multitude of their acquaintances at 
the end. There is a certain atmosphere of reserve, which is peculiar to a 
company of American travelers going to Europe, which gives an air of for- 
mality and caution to their intercourse with one another, and which appears 
to increase, rather than to diminish, as we approach the foreign shore. The 
fact is, that very many have a sort of feeling — indistinct and indefinable, it 
is true, but none the less real on that account, and certainly not unreason- 
able — of uncertainty how far any new friendship which they may form on 
the voyage may be a source of embarrassment on landing. Nor is this an 
improper feeling. Each individual has his own peculiar objects and ends in 
view. He has in prospect, by means of his letters of introduction, or his 
personal acquaintance, facilities for accomplishing these objects, so far as 
concerns himself and his own immediate party, but which could not easily 
be made available for a larger number. He sees, in a word, or fancies he 
sees, openings of admission to places or to scenes where he wishes to go, 
large enough for himself, but not large enough for all his friends. Through 
the influence of this feeling, or something like this, it happens that though 
in the progress of the voyage the strange faces become familiar, and some 
personal knowledge is acquired of the various individuals and parties on 
board, and perhaps a common conversational acquaintance is formed with 
nearly all, the real sense of separation and solitude grows sti-onger instead 
of weaker all the way, and every little party on board feels really more iso- 
lated from all mankmd at the end of the voyage than they did at the beginning. 



16 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

The parting salute. Farewell. Summons to lunch. 

on board sometimes have the heart to return, and some- 
times not. The ship, however, returns the salute with' 
a gun w^hen she finds herself really receding from the 
shore. The waving of handkerchiefs, fluttering more 
and more faintly, and at longer intervals, as the dis- 
tance increases, closes the scene. The outlines of 
Boston and of the neighboring shores soon grow dim, 
but by the time we fairly realize that we are actually 
separated from our native land, traveler-like we change 
suddenly to a new and very different excitement. We 
find ourselves all crowding eagerly into the saloon at 
the summons of a bell calling us to lunch ! The old 
campaigners, in whom these parting scenes excite no 
emotion, go to the tables because they are hungry. 
Others wish to make sure of their seats for the voyage 
by taking early possession ; and the rest go from curi- 
osity, to see what is to be seen. For one reason or 
another the decks are deserted, and all crowd around 
the tables in the saloon to lunch. 



THE SHIP. 

July 6. 

Five days on the Atlantic ! It is necessary to allow 
about five days for time to get accustomed to the mo- 
tion of the ship, and to the novelty of the scenes which 
surround one at sea. This time has now expired ; and 
as I presume that very few of my readers will have had 
the opportunity of seeing the interior of a sea-going 
steamer, I will undertake to give you a description of 
our ship, and of the mode of life which we lead on board. 

In commencing this description, I am seated at a ta- 
ble in a little cabin which is below the principal deck 
of the ship. The room is perhaps eight feet wide and 



CROSSING THE ATLANTIC. 17 

Description of the ship. Cabins. Gimbals. State-rooms. 

twice as long, and it has a table which nearly fills up 
the whole of the interior. There is a little fire-place, 
with a grate, at the middle of one of the sides of the 
room, with marble jams and mantel, and a large mirror 
over it. There are two lamps, one on each side of the 
mirror, suspended at the end of brass branches in a pe- 
culiar manner, so as to keep them always in a perpen- 
dicular position, notwithstanding the pitching and roll- 
ing of the ship. I call them lamps, but they are really 
candlesticks, the candles being concealed from view 
and pressed upward by a spring as fast as they a^'e 
consumed, so as to keep the flame always at the same 
level, at the bottom of a small ground glass globe. 
They have, therefore, the appearance and the name of 
lamps, though they burn only spermaceti, as oil would 
be inconvenient to manage at sea. Their mode of sus- 
pension keeps them always upright ; the compasses, the 
chronometers, the barometer, and, in fact, every thing 
which it is desirable to keep steady at sea, are usually 
mounted in the same way : it is called hanging them 
on gimbals. 

Between the fire-place and the table of the little room 
which I am describing there is but a very narrow space, 
scarcely more than is necessary to allow two persons 
to pass one another. Behind the table a sort of sofa 
extends along the whole side of the room. This sofa 
answers for a seat by day, and it makes two berths at 
night ; and in order to confine the two nocturnal occu- 
pants, each to his proper portion, it is divided into two 
sofas by a sort of arm in the middle. The whole room 
is handsomely finished with oak paneling, and is light- 
ed, though somewhat dimly, by little windows, up high, 
on each side, consisting of a row of single panes of glass, 

B 2 



18 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 




Saloon. Fixtures and furniture. 



opening out upon the main-deck, and which in rough 
weather have to be closed entirely. An enormous leath- 
er bag hangs in one corner of the room to receive the 
letters which the passengers may have brought on board, 
but which they are forbidden by law to take on shore 
at Liverpool. 

This httle cabin is a rendezvous for gentlemen; there 
is another similar to it, further forward, for the ladies ; 
and from these two centers narrow passage ways lead 
all through the " between decks" of the ship, with state- 
rooms on each side of them. These state-rooms are 
very small, with two berths in each, one above the oth- 
er, and with sundry toilet conveniences, which are all 
secured in some way or other against the effect of the 
ship's motion. The tumbler sets into a brass ring which 
projects from the wall. The pitcher has a socket to 
receive it. The lamp is in a little triangular closet, be- 
tween one state-room and the next, with panes of ground 
glass, through which its light is transmitted in each di- 
rection. This lamp is accessible only through a small 
door opening into the passage way : it is hung on gim- 
bals. It is lighted by the steward every evening at 
dark, and is extinguished at midnight, and is thus not 
under the control of those who use it at all. 

This little world of state-rooms is usually the scene, 
for the first week after going to sea, of a great deal of 
misery. Even if the weather is not rough, the ship 
writhes and twists restlessly on the swell of the sea, 
producing a giddy and swimming sensation of the head, 
which soon results in a general derangement of the 
system, and in pain and distress far more hard to en- 
dure than that generally occasioned by much more se- 
rious maladies. 



CROSSING THE ATLANTIC. 19 

Main-deck. Saloon. Fixtures and furniture. 

The whole of this region of cabins and state-rooms, 
with the various passages connecting them, is below 
the main-deck. Two winding stair ways lead us up, 
and upon the main-deck we have a very different scene. 
First, there is the great saloon, extending from the stern 
forward nearly to the middle of the ship. Within this 
saloon there are two ranges of dark mahogany tables, 
one on each side, with a passage way between them. 
Behind the tables, and against the sides of the saloon, 
a row of sofas, or, rather, one continued sofa, extends, 
and hair-cloth settees, well cushioned and stuffed, ^re 
arranged on the outside, all being fastened to the floor. 
The passage way above referred to is between these 
settees, and is quite narrow ; all the rest of the space 
in the room is occupied by the tables and the seats. 
Over each table is a long mahogany shelf, two stories 
high, the edges of the lower part, and the whole sur- 
face of the upper one, being perforated and cut into 
sockets to receive decanters, tumblers, and wine-glass- 
es, and to hold them so as to prevent their being dis- 
turbed by the motion of the ship. These shelves are 
very elegantly made, and being brass mounted, with 
a peculiar apparatus to allow of their being raised a 
little out of the way after the dinner is over, and al- 
ways having their glittering contents upon them, they 
make a very brilliant appearance. There is a row of 
small windows on both sides of the saloon, each con- 
sisting of one pane of plate-glass, and fitted with a cur- 
tain of crimson damask. The remaining portion of 
the walls and the ceiling over head is of panel work, 
highly ornamented, and of dark and sober coloring. 

This saloon has to answer the purposes of parlor, 
sitting-room, dining-room, reading-room, and lounge. 



20 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

Scenes in the saloon. Employments. Setting the tables. 

The whole interior aspect of it is very elegant and 
comfortable when only moderately occupied ; but it is 
not always very comfortable when it is full, as it is at 
lunch and dinner, and at other times when cold or wet 
weather drives the gentlemen in from the decks. Look 
into it now at any ordinary time, and you see the set- 
tees occupied by gentlemen in all attitudes, and en- 
gaged in all occupations. Some are reading books, or 
English newspapers bought at Halifax ; some are play- 
ing backgammon, chess, or cards ; some are talking ; 
some are asleep. Here a party of half a dozen have 
collected around a group of decanters and wine-glass- 
es, and are drinking one another's healths ; and there a 
few ladies, better sailors than the rest, are making a 
desperate effort to amuse themselves, with the assist- 
ance of a polite officer of the ship, in writing crambo. 
Children are running up and down, or kneeling upon 
the settees so that they can look over upon the tables, 
amusing themselves or their older fellow-passengers 
with their playthings, or with their childish conversa- 
tion. This state of things can, however, never con- 
tinue for more than two hours at a time, as we have 
full, formal meals five times a day, making one every 
four hours, except that the interval between dinner 
and tea is but two hours. Thus the occupations of 
the company are continually interrupted by the coming 
in of the stewards with their cloths to spread the ta- 
bles. However, if you will just let them lay the cloth 
itself, you may then go on with your work if you 
please, whether it is writing, reading, or a game ; they 
will set the places all around you, and leave you un- 
disturbed till the very ringing of the bell. Under these 
circumstances, the saloon is kept in a constant state ol 



CROSSING THE ATLANTIC. 21 

Setting the tables. Movement and bustle. 

movement and change from morning to night. We 
begin with breakfast, which continues from half past 
eight to ten, each guest appearing when he is ready, 
and ordering what he pleases. Let it be what it will, 
within any reasonable limits, it is sure to be prepared 
and placed hot before him in a very few minutes. At 
eleven they begin to lay the cloths for lunch, which is 
brought upon the table as soon as the captain and the 
mates " make it eight bells" on the deck above, that is, 
ascertain, by an observation of the sun, with their 
quadrants and sextants, that it is noon at the pla^e 
where we happen to be. At lunch the tables are load- 
ed with tureens of broth, cold meats of every variety, 
lobsters, sardines, baked potatoes, baked apples, stewed 
prunes, crackers and cheese, and plenty of bottles of 
porter and ale. After the tables are cleared from 
lunch there is a short interval again for reading and 
writing in the saloon; but at three o'clock a general 
interruption to these occupations takes place by the 
appearance of the cloths for dinner. Thus the apart- 
ment is kept in a continual state of movement and 
bustle from morning to night, the scene closing be- 
tween ten and eleven by a supper for all who choose 
to take it, very luxuriously served. 

This saloon, which is built upon the principal deck 
of the ship, does not occupy the whole breadth of it. 
There is on each side of it a long and narrow space 
between the saloon and the sides of the vessel, which 
forms a sort of promenade. It, of course, has the deck 
for its floor, the sky is over head, and the side of the 
saloon, with its row of small plate-glass windows, on 
one side, and the bulwarks of the ship on the other. 
Here the children play, and promenaders walk to and 



22 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND 

Promenades. Stewards' apartments- and stores. 

fro ; and, in particularly warm and sunny weather, lit- 
tle groups, or individuals in solitude, sit upon camp- 
stools or settees, or upon a sort of mast or spar, which 
lies securely lashed along under the bulwarks, ready to 
be used in case of need, and occupy themselves in read- 
ing or conversation, or in simply waiting for time to 
pass along. There is no view of the sea from these 
promenades, on account of the bulwarks, which, instead 
of being, as in ordinary steam-boats, only breast high, 
are made, as is usual with sea-going vessels, much high- 
er than one's head, so that it is necessary to clamber 
up upon the spar in order to get a view of the waves. 
Forward of the saloon, and in a line with it upon the 
deck, and separated from it by a covered passage way, 
is a congeries of little apartments — in all scarce twelve 
feet square — which seems to be China closet, wine cel- 
lar, pantry, and larder all in one, and from which issue 
the seemingly inexhaustible supplies for the table. The 
covered passage way above referred to leads across 
from the promenade on one side of the ship to that on 
the other, and from it there is a communication with 
the saloon on one side and this pantry on the other side. 
The two stair-cases by which we ascend from the cab- 
ins and the state-rooms, land, likewise, here. Across 
this passage way the stewards bring at meal-times the 
endless supplies of every imaginable article of food or 
refreshment, with which they load the tables five times 
a day. The supplies, it is true, are kept up by a set 
of wild-looking men, half cooks, half sailors in appear- 
ance, who run continually to the windows of these apart- 
ments outside, at the proper hours, with great covered 
dishes which they bring from various cabooses and 
kitchens further forward. Notwithstanding this, how- 



CROSSING THE ATLANTIC. 23 

Abundance of supplies. Engines and stokers. 

ever, the immense capacity of this small space, and its 
seeming power to supply every imaginable demand 
upon it, excite continual vv^onder. One of my mess- 
mates, accustomed by many previous voyages to these 
scenes, was very free in calling, at any time, for any 
thing which he happened to feel a fancy for, whether 
it was upon the table or not ; and it was always pro- 
duced without any question and with very little delay. 
Upon my expressing my surprise at the ampleness and 
abundance of their stored and preparations, " Oh," said 
he, " they have got every thing on board, and so I just 
take the liberty to call for any thing I happen to want. 
I reason that when I pay ten dollars a day for my board, 
I am entitled to have what I ask for. The captain, it 
is true, does not reckon it so. He calls it four cents a 
mile for traveling conveyance ; / call it ten dollars a 
day for board ; and as both modes of viewing the sub- 
ject seem equally correct, I choose to act on mine." 

Directly forward of what I have been describing we 
come to the center of the deck, in the middle of the 
ship, where there are openings and passages leading 
down to the engines and machinery, and also to the 
forward cabin. You look through a grating into one 
of these openings, and see iron ladders leading down 
to a second floor of grating many feet below, and be- 
neath that a second series of ladders conducting to a 
still greater depth, where you see the glow of fires, 
and piles of coal, and black, Vulcan-like looking men, 
replenishing and stirring the fires with enormous im- 
plements of iron, seemingly too ponderous for human 
strength to manage. You wonder what there can be 
valuable or desirable in life spent in such occupations 
and in such a den. 



24 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

" The smoky." Fresh air. The smoke-pipe. 

Forward of this is a very important place, being the 
only part of the ship where you can be in the open air 
and yet have a shelter over head. Imagine a space ten 
feet square, with a wooden grating for the floor, and 
the capstan in the center of it. There is a partition 
forward of it, behind which the enormous smoke-pipe 
ascends into the air. The heat from this pipe pours 
out very abundantly through a lattice-work in the par- 
tition, so that the passenger can warm himself by it if 
he is cold. The space is open on the two sides to a 
broad passage way along the deck, beyond which, 
however, it is protected on the sides of the ship by the 
paddle-boxes, kitchens, and various offices. Thus, 
while it is in a great measure open to the air, it is pro- 
tected from the rain by the saloon deck which extends 
over it, and it is cut off by the surrounding structures 
from all prospect of the sea. This is the great rendez- 
vous of the smokers, who stand about the capstan, or 
sit on the settees and camp-stools. Here, also, the half 
sick come in bad weather, for it is the only sheltered 
place about the decks. Here they come, therefore, 
when too unwell to bear the confined feeling of the 
cabins and saloon, to enjoy the fresh air a little ; fresh 
air which is composed in about equal proportions of 
the heat of the boilers,-the smoke of the cigars, and all 
the winds of heaven. 

There is, however, one other place of tolerable 
shelter, which, after all, is, on the whole, better than 
this. It is directly above it, on the saloon deck, close 
by the naked smoke-pipe, where it comes out into the 
open air. This smoke-pipe is very large, perhaps eight 
feet in diameter, and is painted of a fiery red, with 
black bands encircling it. The saloon deck is eleva- 



CROSSING THE ATLANTIC. 25 

The smoke-pipe. Exposure. " Forward." 

ted, and entirely exposed to the sky. It extends from 
the smoke-pipe back over the saloon to the stern for 
about half the width of the ship. Two winding stairs 
lead up to it. It is surrounded by a brass railing, 
which is covered with canvas at sea, but is very bright 
and elegant in port. Here, in fine weather, you can 
sit, or you can walk up and down, if your head is suf- 
ficiently steady. You have an unobstructed prospect 
of the sea, and you can watch conveniently all the op- 
erations of the sailors in heaving the log, and in mak- 
ing and furling sail, and also those of the officers in 
taking the observation at noon. But you must bfe 
warmly clothed, for there is always a cold wind draw- 
ing over the decks of a sea-going steamer. When it 
becomes too cold, or when it begins to rain, you can 
go to the smoke-pipe, and, by placing your camp-stool 
on the sheltered side of it, find a tolerable protection 
from the rain ; and, at any rate, you find the effects of 
a little wet more tolerable than that of the cigars in 
the more sheltered place around the capstan just be- 
low. The result is, that all ladies, and nearly all gen- 
tlemen, except the smokers, when they wish to feel the 
warmth of this enormous tube, prefer to seek it in the 
open air above, rather than in the half-confined inclos- 
ure below. 

If now we descend to the main-deck we find a large 
open space, far forward, which is the chief scene of 
the movements and operations of the seamen. Here 
are the guns, the anchors, the spare spars, and num- 
berless coils of rigging. Here, in pleasant weather, 
they repair the worn or damaged sails, spreading them 
down upon the deck. Here the carpenter, using a 
heavy plank for a bench, temporarily supported on any 



I 



26 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

The forecastle. Death. Arrangements for the burial. 

thing which comes to hand, makes a new grating, or 
repairs some damage in the wood-work of the ship. 
He has to stop his work for a moment occasionally, to 
grasp his bench, at the approach of some heavy swell 
of the sea, to prevent its being overturned. Here the 
boys belonging to the families of passengers come to 
play with the cordage, or to make new arrows for their 
bows, or to shoot. In front of this space, directly in 
the bows of the boat, is a small raised deck, called the 
forecastle, on which a look-out man keeps watch for 
ships or land ahead. Beneath it is an unexplored and 
inaccessible den, where the sailors find what little re- 
pose their life allows them. 



BURIAL OP THE DEAD AT SEA. 

July 7. 

At Halifax a sick man was brought on board the 
ship on a litter. It was said that he was an English 
officer who had been in the West Indies, and that he 
was gradually sinking under a state of disease left by 
the yellow fever, under which he had suffered there 
He was endeavoring to get home to his fx-iends in En- 
gland. He came on board through the midst of a 
scene of noise, confusion, and din on the wharf and on 
the decks of the steamer, at Halifax, which no pen can 
describe. The ship put to sea. The poor officer 
lingered a few hours, and died at sunset. The next 
morning an announcement was placarded at the en- 
trance of the saloon that funeral services would be at- 
tended at half past nine o'clock. 

It was a bright and pleasant Sabbath morning. A 
port was opened through the bulwarks on one side of 
the ship, at the place where the plank is usually pass- 



CROSSING THE ATLANTIC. 27 

Funeral procession. The pall. Spectators. 



ed on board for the landing of passengers. There 
was a pair of steps placed here, the upper steps being 
on a level with the lower edge of the port-hole. It 
was understood that the funeral ceremony was to take 
place here, and the passengers accordingly assembled 
on the saloon deck above, whence they could look 
down upon the scene. 

The coffin containing the body had been placed on 
the other side of the ship at the stern, at the extreme 
end of one of the promenades, by the side of the saloon, 
which has been already described. When the appoint- 
ed time arrived, the ship's bell began to toll mournful^ 
ly. A procession of the seamen, neatly dressed, and 
with very thoughtful looks, headed by some of their 
officers, advanced from forward. They removed the 
sheet of canvas with which the coffin had been cov- 
ered, and placed over it a British flag. They then 
lifted the coffin. It appeared very heavy. It had 
been^ in fact, loaded within, to insure its sinking rap- 
idly. The sailors advanced with it along the prome- 
nade, thence across the ship at the capstan, and then, 
turning again, they brought it to the port-hole, and 
placed it upon the step, in such a manner that the foot 
of the coffin extended out over the water. They kept 
it carefully covered with the flag, which the wind en- 
deavored constantly to remove. 

In the mean time, the captain had taken his place, 
with some of the superior officers of the ship, near the 
open port, and he now began to read the burial serv- 
ice. The company of passengers looked on, in solemn 
silence and with heads uncovered, from the saloon deck 
above. At length the seamen drew back the flag, and 
at the words, " We commit this body to the deep," 



28 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

The plunge. Common error. Water incompressible. 

read by the captain, they pushed it forward through 
the opening. It seemed ahnost to struggle in their 
hands against their efforts, as if the disappointed ten- 
ant within, whose heart had been set upon regaining 
his home and his friends, could not endure to be thus 
thrust forth into the cold and merciless surges of the 
ocean. It was all in vain, however. The coffin was 
forced through the opening, and plunging into the wa- 
ter, it went down like lead into the foaming torrents 
which were poured along the ship's sides by the enor- 
mous paddle wheels of the steamer. 

It is a common opinion, though undoubtedly a mis- 
taken one, that heavy bodies, sinking at sea, go down 
only to a certain depth, where they find the water in 
such a condition, owing to the superincumbent press- 
ure, that it sustains them from any further sinking ; and 
that there, each one finding its own proper level, floats 
about forever. It is true, indeed, that the pressure of 
the water is enormously increased at great depths ; but 
its power of floating heavy bodies depends upon its 
density, not upon its pressure. If water could be com- 
pressed itself into very much narrower dimensions 
than it naturally occupies at the surface, so that a large 
bulk of it could be made to occupy a small space, its 
weight and its buoyant power would, in that case, be 
very much increased. It would become like mercury, 
and it would then be able to float iron, lead, stones, in 
fact, all other bodies lighter than itself. But no such 
effect can be produced upon it. Although the pressure 
is enormous to which it is subjected at great depths in: 
the sea, it resists it all, and obstinately retains very 
nearly its original dimensions. Its density, therefore, 
and its weight, and, consequently, its buoyant power. 



CROSSING THE ATLANTIC. 29 

Time of descent. Solitary grave. 

remain very nearly the same at all depths, and the 
iron or the lead which it can not sustain at the surface 
it can no better sustain a thousand fathoms below. In 
fact, it is probable that most sinking bodies, including 
even iron itself, are compressed themselves as they 
descend, more rapidly than the water, so that they be- 
come heavier and heavier as they go down, and thus 
seek their final place of repose with a constantly ac- 
celerated force. 

There can be no doubt, therefore, that the loaded 
coffin, in such a case as this, continues the descent com- 
menced by its first solemn plunge, till it reaches the 
bottom. The average depth of the ocean has been as- 
certained to be five miles. If we suppose now, which 
may not be far from the truth, that such a weight would 
descend with a motion of about one mile an hour, the 
body would be five hours proceeding to its final place 
of repose. What a march to the grave is this ! Five 
hours ! alone, unattended, unthought of, pressing stead- 
ily on away from all light and life ; passing, without 
even a pause, the limit where the last ray of the sun 
becomes extinct, and where the last trace of life for- 
ever fails ! And what a tomb to come to at last ! 
What silence ! What darkness ! What desolation ! 
What eternal and motionless rest ! At such a depth it 
would seem that almost absolutely nothing could ever 
transpire ; and a human body, seeking there its last 
home, must find one so entirely its own, that probably 
for ages past and for ages to come there will have 
been nothing but its own intrusion to disturb the death- 
like repose. 

The service concluded, the port-hole was closed. 
The sailors went forward to their duty. The passen- 
C2 




30 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

Eight bells. Making sail. A breeze. 

gers resumed their usual attitudes and positions about 
the decks. Four bells struck, and half a dozen hands 
were called aft to " heave the log." The funeral was 
forgotten. 

MAKING SAIL IN A BREEZE. 

July 

This morning when I went up and looked out oft! 
door of the passage way in front of the saloon, I found 
it raining in torrents. A steward, observing my for- 
lorn looks, attempted to comfort me by saying that the 
rain would clear the sky, and bring the wind round 
fair ; it had been contrary for many days. Half an 
hour before dinner-time his prediction proved true. 
The sky cleared up and a fresh breeze came in from 
the right quarter, and when eight bells struck, for four 
o'clock, which was the signal for changing the watch, 
that is, for one set of hands to go below and another to 
take their place, I went out upon one of the bridges, 
and heard the captain, as he went away to his dinner, 
give orders to the mate to " make all sail before the 
men went down." The dinner bell rings at this time, 
but as I had had one dinner before, under the name of 
lunch, I remained on the deck to witness the scene. 

A fresh breeze at sea seems to a landsman quite a 
heavy gale, on account of the noise made by its whis- 
tling and roaring through the shrouds and rigging. 
Under these circumstances, it is an exciting scene to 
see them " make sail," as they term it. This noise of 
the winds in the cordage, mingled with the dash of the 
sea, the vociferations of the officers, the shrill pipe of 
the boatswain, and the thrashing and flapping made by 
the sails before they are secured, all together produces 





CROSSING THE ATLANTIC. 31 


Sailors. 


Their self-possession aloft. 



a strange and picturesque effect. The sails and spars, 
too, are drawn to their places by means of lines of rig- 
ging which pass through so many pulleys before they 
come to the hands of the sailors who work them, and 
are so completely lost on their way in the maze of 
ropes and tackle, that when you see an effect produced 
you can seldom discover where the power is which 
produces it. A spar, for example, moves out to its 
place ; a sail creeps slowly up to an inaccessible point ; 
it makes a great deal of roaring, flapping, and resist- 
ance, by the way; but all is in vain: proceed it must, 
up, home, to its place of destination. Now and then a 
line or a block "gets foul," and a man is sent up to 
clear it. He mounts to a dizzy height, holding on with 
one hand, while he does his work with the other ; the 
sailor's motto aloft being, one hand for himself and one 
for his owners. It seems a very dangerous position, in 
a stiff breeze and rough sea, for a man to stand upon a 
rope stretched along under a spar, or to lie across the 
spar, face downward, reaching out at something which 
is a little beyond his reach, while the ship is rolling 
and pitching all the time as if exerting itself to the ut- 
most to jerk him into the sea. But the sailors seem, 
under such circumstances, perfectly at home and self- 
possessed, and answer " Ay, ay, sir !" to every vocif- 
erated order from the officer below, with an air of en- 
tire unconcern, though they are at the end of the yard- 
arm, where they hang in mid air, swinging to and fro 
over the foaming surges, which seem fiercely eager to 
swallow them up. I pi-esume a school of sharks under- 
neath would make no difference in their composure and 
unconcern. 

While the work of expanding sail after sail is going 



32 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

Commands. Boatswain's pipe. 

on in such a time as this, the noise and din of the winds 
and waves is such that oral orders can hardly be heard. 
Still they are given. An officer stands erect and firm 
on one of the bridges, which are narrow passage ways 
on a level with the saloon deck, leading across the ship 
from one paddle-wheel to the other, and calls out, in a 
very loud and stern tone of voice, continual commands. 
No words are audible, at least to a landsman, in his vo- 
ciferations ; and it would seem that his commands must 
be understood, like the cries in New York or London, 
not by the ai-ticulations, but by the tone. A great 
many orders are, however, given by the boatswain's 
pipe, a shrill whistle with which the boatswain and his 
mates communicate directions, by means of an infinite 
variety of twitterings and chirpings, like the notes of a 
bird. These sounds are all unintelligible to a lands- 
man, but they constitute almost a whole language for 
the seamen to whom they are addressed. The boat- 
swain pipes an order for the seamen to pull a rope 
along the deck, then he pipes them to stop pulling, then 
to come back to a new position, then to pull again. 
He pipes the men up to make sail, and he pipes them 
down again ; he pipes them to dinner, and he pipes 
them to witness punishment. He can say, by his man- 
ner of blowing his whistle when the men are hoisting 
a sail, " Pull away ! pull away ! now gently ; a little 
more ; there, that will do." In fact, he can say any 
thing. The sound of the instrument is not loud, but it 
is very shrill. Its piercing note extends from stem to 
stern, finding its way equally easily through all the 
mazes of the rigging aloft, and through all the dark 
depths and recesses below. It penetrates every where, 
and rises above every other sound, cutting its way, as 



CROSSING THE ATLANTIC. 33 

Appearance of the sea. Dinner. Sea rising. 

it were, through the whistling of the winds, the reverb- 
erations of thunder, and the roaring of storms in which 
thunder can no longer be heard. 

In the mean time, while the canvas gradually spreads 
under orders thus given, the ship dashes on with in- 
creased speed, urged by the engine and driven by the 
wind. The sea rises. The billows far and wide are 
capped with foam, the white gaining rapidly upon the 
blue all over the raging surface around us. We are a 
thousand miles, perhaps, from any land, plunging along 
from swell to swell over the raging sea, and all the 
time the dinner is going on just as usual. In the little 
closet-like rooms along the sides of the deck they are 
cooking every imaginable dish, making pastry, baking 
puddings and pies, staggering with them from side to 
side, in their transitus from the kitchen to the oven, and 
from the oven to the table ; and in the saloon a hund- 
red gentlemen and ladies are going through the cer- 
emonies of a formal dinner of five regular courses with 
entire composure, while they are all rolling and tossing 
together over the waves. With what astonishment 
would a philosopher of the days of the Greeks and 
Romans have contemplated such a dinner-party in such 
a place, and in the midst of such a scene. 

A few hours of such a breeze gets up quite a little 
sea, and the passengers soon begin to come up upon 
the decks to witness the commotion. Some remain 
upon the saloon deck ; others go forward on the bridg- 
es ; and one lady, more courageous and self-possessed 
than the rest, takes a position with her husband on a 
projection in front of one of the paddle-boxes, where 
she literally hangs over the boiling surges, and can 
have an unobstructed view of the scene. 



34 SUMMEil IN SCOtLAND. 



A morning scene. The log. Four bells. 

HEAVING THE LOG. " 

July 9. 

It is a bright and beautiful morning. I am seated 
upon a camp-stool upon the saloon deck, with fifty or 
sixty gentlemen and ladies, all enjoying the pleasant 
morning air. Some are promenading up and down the 
deck, though with rather unsteady steps. Others are 
standing in groups, engaged in conversation. Others, 
still, are seated upon camp-stools or settees, reading or 
talking, or looking out upon the ocean. The waters 
are of a very deep and dark blue, with thousands of 
waves in every direction, all capped with foam. 

Here come a couple of sailors up the stair-way, with 
two great bundles of flags in their arms. They carry 
their load to the stern of the ship, all the passengers 
watching their movements. They unfold their flags, 
and, attaching them to one another by their cords, they 
hoist them to the mast-head in such a manner that the 
flags float to the wind in two long lines, reaching from 
aloft to the deck, and making a very gay appearance. 
The object is to dry them. They are of all colors and 
forms. 

Four bells are now struck, and the order is passed 
forward to come and " heave the log." The log, so 
called, is a small bit of board in the shape of a quarter 
of a circle, having, of course, two straight sides and 
one curved one. The curved side is loaded with a 
strip of lead, nailed along its edge. There is a peg in 
the center of the board, to which a cord is attached. 
This peg is pressed into its place pretty tight, just be- 
fore the log is thrown, and holds the log to the line. 
There is another branch of the line attached perma- 



CROSSING THE ATLANTIC. 35 



Heaving the log. 



nently to tde upper corner of the log. Of course, by 
means of this arrangement, the log, when in the water, 
will float perpendicularly, and consequently it will not 
easily drag. But by a small jerk upon the line the peg 
may be pulled out, and then the log maybe drawn along 
easily over the water by means of that branch of the 
line which is attached to the upper corner. 




The passengers gather around to witness the heav*- 
ing of the log, partly from interest in the operation it- 
self, and partly from a desire to learn the result of it, 
that is, the rate at which we are advancing on our 
way. The line attached to the log is two or three hund- 
red feet long, and is wound loosely upon a sort of reel, 
or spool, that turns easily upon its centers. These cen- 
ters are in two handles at the ends of the reel, A sail- 
or holds this reel high above his head, supporting it by 
the two handles, so that the line can be easily unwound 
from it. The officer draws off from the reel a number 
of lengths of the line, which he lays over his hand in a 
sort of coil, and then calls out, " Clear the glass." This 
is an order to a man in a little apartment belovv^, to 
whom the sound of his voice penetrates through a sort 
of grating, to get ready a kind of minute-glass, but not 
to set the sand to running. The man below answers, 
*^ Ready." The officer then throws his log, coil and 
all, overboard, astern of the ship, and the line begins 
to run off from the reel through the hands of the officer 
who threw the log. In a minute or two a small rag, 
which is fastened to the line at a particular point, by 



33 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

The glass. The knots. Mode of reckoning. 

being drawn through its strands and tied, passes through 
the officer's hands. This rag marks the commence- 
ment of the divided part of the line, and at the instant 
that the officer feels it pass, he calls out quickly, 
*' Turn." The man below instantly turns his glass, so 
as to set the sand to running. And now all parties, 
operators and spectators, stand in breathless silence as 
the line runs off from the reel. The longer the length 
of line which is drawn off before the sand is gone from 
the minute glass, the more rapid, of course, is the mo- 
tion of the ship through the water shown to be. Three 
or four of the sailors advance and put their hands about 
the line, in order to be ready to assist in stopping it the 
moment the signal is given. In the mean time the reel 
spins round with the greatest velocity, the line runs 
through the hands of the officer and of his assistants, 
and is seen stretching away to a great distance astern, 
in the wake of the vessel. At length we hear the call 
from the grated cell below, " Stop," when the officer 
and all his assistants grasp the line in an instant and 
begin drawing it in. They immediately perceive, by 
its divisions, what portion was run out, and they de- 
clare at once the rate of the ship's motion. The an- 
nouncement is received by the passengers with disap- 
pointment, or with satisfaction and pleasure, according 
as the result varies between nine and twelve miles the 
hour. 

The divisions of the line are marked by knots, each 
knot of the line being, in relation to the minute-glass, 
the same as a mile to the hour. Hence they say a 
ship is sailing so many knots when they wish to indi- 
cate her speed. These knots are, however, not made 
in the line itself, but in little cords which are drawn 



CROSSING THE ATLANTIC. 37 



Small size of the log. Drawing in the line. 

through and around the strands of the line at the prop- 
er distances. The whole seems to make rather a rough 
sort of cord to run through the naked hands of the sea- 
men as fast as it does run, when the ship is advancing 
at the rate of twelve miles the hour ; but seamen have 
hands of iron. 

Another thing which surprises the landsman, when 
he first witnesses this operation, is the very small size 
of the log itself, which seems, at first view, wholly in- 
sufficient to take hold of the water with power enough 
to draw off the line from the reel as fast as it does, 
without being itself drawn rapidly home toward tlie 
ship. But the fact is, that the log is aided very much 
by the line itself lying in the water, as soon as a few 
fathoms of it are out ; and the reckoning, it will be 
observed, does not begin till then. The line seems 
to cling, as it were, to the water with great tenacity. 
In fact, when the operation is over, and the line is to 
be drawn in, every one is, in the first instance, very 
much surpi'ised at the degree of force required to do 
this. It takes three or four men, who lay the cord 
over their shoulders, and walk off" with it along the 
deck, in the attitudes of men tugging with all their 
strength at a heavy load. The cord comes in, howev- 
er, more and more easily as the work of drawing it in 
goes on. At length they cease to take it over their 
shoulders, and begin to pull it in hand over hand. At 
last the log itself is seen away astern, at the end of 
the line, dancing and skipping over the blue waters, 
and through the foam of the wake, till it comes up on 
board again. 

D 



38 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

The announcement. The service. 



DIVINE SERVICE AT SEA. 

Sunday, July 11. 

This morning, as the steward passed along to our 
state-rooms to wake us up for breakfast, he added to 
his usual summons, "'Tis eight o'clock, gentlemen," 
the announcement, " Divine service at half past ten." 

At half past ten, accordingly, the bell on the fore- 
castle began to toll for church, and a procession of 
sailors, dressed in white duck, and with broad blue 
collars turned down over their shoulders, came aft 
and entered the saloon. They walked up between the 
two rows of tables, and seated themselves toward the 
stem of the ship, around the ends of the tables termin- 
ating there. The captain and some of the more prom- 
inent of the passengers, with their ladies, were seated 
at one of the tables on the side, which brought them 
near the middle of the saloon in respect to its length. 
The other passengers soon filled up all the remainder 
of the permanent seats, and then camp-stools were 
brought in and occupied, until every portion of the 
space accessible was densely filled. 

Th' service on board these ships is that of the 
Chur< of England, as it is very proper that it should 
be ; a. i it is the duty of the captain, in the absence of 
a clerj( yman of that Church, to read it, he being, as it 
were, nj head of the family which the company on 
board the ship, for the time being, constitute. It is 
true that the captain may not be a religious man ; and 
on one occasion of this kind, it seemed a little strange 
to me, with my New England notions, to find the cap- 
tain arranging his bets, with now and then a profane 
expression, and disposing of his sea lottery tickets on 



CROSSING THE ATLANTIC. 39 

The English Liturgy at sea. The congregation. 

the deck, at ten o'clock, in order that, having got this 
business satisfactorily arranged, he might be ready, at 
half past ten, to go into the saloon and lead the devo- 
tions of a Christian congregation. But traveling about 
the world in mature life often cuts sadly across the 
ideas and prepossessions of childhood. A friend of 
the establishment might say that the prayers and prais- 
es of the English Liturgy may be joined in heartily by 
the worshiper, without paying any attention to the 
personal feelings or character of him who reads it, 
any more than to those of the printer who prints the 
book, or to those of the organist or the singer who 
leads the music of the chants and hymns. They are 
all equally the mere ministerial instruments, through 
whose aid, more or less directly, we clothe our ideas 
in words as we approach our Maker ; and that the 
only points of importance to us, in respect to our per- 
sonal devotions, are the propriety of the words them- 
selves, and the condition of our own thoughts and feel- 
ings. 

And, in fact, it must be confessed that the traveler, 
who is disposed to make the best of every thing, in- 
stead of resisting and repelling whatever is ne ./ and 
unusual, will find that it is really so. At least, ,-; was 
so in this case. The captain read the servic^,, with 
great correctness and propriety. The sea wa* com- 
paratively smooth. It rocked the floating coi^f rega- 
tion gently, as if unwilling to disturb the adoration and 
homage we were offering to its own mighty Master. 
The hum of children playing gently upon the decks 
came in at the windows of the saloon. Sea-gulls were 
sailing in circles over the surface of the water. The 
congregation seemed impressed and subdued by the 



40 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

Plan of the lottery. Its professed object. 

solemnity of the scene ; and whoever did not make it 
an hour of sincere and heartfelt worship must have 
found the fault in himself, and not either in the liturgy 
of the English Church, or in the arrangements made 
for conducting, by means of it, public worship at sea. 



THE LOTTERY. 

July 12, 1847. 

The last thing which interests the passenger in a 
voyage across the Atlantic, previous to his prepara- 
tions for landing, is the lottery. I should say, perhaps, 
a certain portion of the passengers, for it is only a por- 
tion who take any active part in it. It is a lottery 
contrived to have the drawing of the prize depend 
upon the time of arrival. The plan is generally to sell 
the half hours of the day at auction, to the highest bid- 
der, each half hour being represented by a ticket with 
the time noted upon it. All the money obtained by the 
sale is put together, and constitutes the prize ; and it 
becomes the property of the one who has the ticket for 
the half hour during which the ship arrives. This sale 
of tickets takes place some days before the end of the 
voyage, when some judgment may be formed of the 
probable duration of the remaining portion of it ; though 
not an exact one, as much depends upon the wind and 
weather during the last few days. The gentlemen 
who promote this scheme always profess that their mo- 
tive is, not any gambling interest in winning the prize, 
but only a desire to provide a means of amusement for 
the last hours of the voyage. 

It would not be convenient to have the moment of 
landing the time for determining the disposal of the 
prize, because at that moment the ship is too much a 



CROSSING THE ATLANTIC. 41 

" Grand Marine Lottery." An auction. Stock market. 

scene of bustle and excitement to admit of paying at- 
tention to the settlement of such an affair. Accord- 
ingly, some other point of time is usually taken, as, for 
instance, the passage of a particular light-house or 
buoy, or, more commonly still, the taking of a pilot, 
which event takes place usually some three or four 
hours before reaching the dock. 

In accordance with this custom, notice was posted 
on Friday, three days before the expected time of our 
arrival, that there would be an auction sale of tickets 
in the " Grand Marine Lottery" at half past one, which 
would be soon after lunch. Quite a company collect- 
ed at the appointed time. The auctioneer took his 
stand upon the steps where, not many days before, the 
body of the poor officer had been placed when await- 
ing its awful plunge into the deep. The same com- 
pany took their places around, in the same attitudes, 
and presenting the same general appearance, only the 
expression of solemnity and awe of the former occa- 
sion was now replaced by one of frolic and fun. 

The auctioneer stated that the tickets would be put 
up at ten shillings sterling each — which is about two 
dollars and a half — and would be sold at or above that 
sum to the highest bidder. He then read the conditions 
of sale, according to the usual forms adopted in New 
York, and which, being utterly inapplicable and absurd 
at sea, served very well for drollery. The tickets 
were all sold at or above the " upset" price. The fa- 
vorite tickets were, as they phrased it, " the A.M.'s, 
from 6 to 9," it being generally expected that we should 
take the pilot early on Tuesday morning. Some oi 
these favorite tickets sold for three pounds, equal to 
fifteen dollars. The whole purchase money, which 

D2 



42 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

Results of the lottery. Disappointment and mortification. 



constituted the prize, came to about twenty-eight pounds, 
equal to, say, one hundred and thirty-five dollars; 
enough, one would suppose, to excite quite a strong 
gambling interest among the competitors. These tick- 
ets were sold afterward, to some extent, from one to 
another ; but as it became, in a day or two, more and 
more certain that Tuesday morning would be the time, 
all other tickets soon lost their value, and the foolish 
possessors of them seemed inclined to bear their loss 
and their mortification in silence. In fact, far from be- 
ing any source of amusement and pleasure, the whole 
subject seemed to be very speedily dropped, as if by 
common consent. Nobody, at last, appeared to know 
who got the prize ; and the whole affair ended, as all 
gambling transactions, whether on a large or small 
scale, must necessarily end, in a sort of uneasy and half- 
guilty feeling of exultation on the part of the winner of 
his companion's money, and in a wholly guilty feeling 
of mortification and chagrin on the part of the rest. 

I will here close this long account of the voyage, re- 
serving the landing as a separate subject. The ac- 
count is, perhaps, too long, and too minute and detail- 
ed. It certainly is so for those who have made such 
voyages, and are, consequently, familiar with such 
scenes. But it is not written for them ; it is intended 
for those who have passed their days on land, and who 
can form no distinct idea of the nature of life at sea, 
unless it is minutely described. The picture, such as 
it is^ is drawn from the life, having been written almost 
entirely on shipboard, in the midst of the scenes which 
it attempts to delineate. 



LANDING. 43 



Land. Superiority of steam. Cape Clear. 



LETTER II. 

LANDING IN ENGLAND. 

Liverpool, July 16. 

The first thing which interests the voyager in ap- 
proaching the English shore is the astonishing exact- 
ness which the art of navigation has attained in ena- 
bHng the ship to make the land with such precision. 
After sailing a week over a boundless waste of waters, 
for thousands of miles, through fogs and mists, and with 
winds and currents tending in all directions, and without 
having, perhaps, seen the sun but once or twice at noon 
during the whole time, we all go to bed some evening 
with the assurance that when we rise the next morn- 
ing we shall see Cape Clear, in a certain direction and 
at a certain distance. And, accordingly, when we 
come on deck in the morning, and look in the speci- 
fied direction, there it is. At least, this was the result 
in our case. The steward told us at night, when we 
went to our berths, that we should see land in the 
morning ; and in the morning, when he passed along, as 
usual, to knock at our state-room doors, he said at each 
one, " Eight o'clock, gentlemen ; land right ahead !" 

When we reach Cape Clear we are twenty-four 
hours' sail from Liverpool, and every one is express- 
ing his joy that we are not in a sailing vessel, as in 
that case we might be a week in reaching port. As 
we move rapidly on, we, in fact, pass ships becalmed, 
or struggling up slowly against light and contrary 
winds, while other vessels, leaving England, are com- 
ing down with all sails set, but yet making very slow 
progress. We begin to realize that we are actually 



44 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

The coast. Picturesque scenery. Steamers. 

drawing near to port. The guards are taken off the 
tables ; the swell of the sea disappears ; the ship moves 
steadily. The passengers are busy every where look- 
ing over and arranging their letters, and making other 
preparations to land ; and the seamen are busily em- 
ployed, all over the ship, putting every thing in a neat 
and tidy condition, in respect to the rigging and fixtures 
of every kind, so as to be ready to make a proper ap- 
pearance in port. 

We are all day going up St. George's Channel, 
keeping generally very near the coast of Ireland, 
which is picturesque and beautiful in the extreme. 
The hills are of the softest green, with fields divided 
by hedges, and varied in color by the different kinds 
of grain. These slopes continue to the sea, sometimes 
terminated by perpendicular bluffs and precipices a 
hundred feet high, and sometimes descending gradu- 
ally to the water, where they are bounded by a beau- 
tiful beach of yellow sand. Headlands and promon- 
tories project every where, and the steamer keeps just 
far enough from the shore to go safely clear of these, 
but near enough to give us distinct views of the light- 
houses, and monuments, and castles erected upon them. 
These structures, and the points they adorn, we iden- 
tify by m'^ans of a great chart, which the captain 
spreads for us upon the wheel-house on deck. Ships 
and steam- boats begin to be frequently seen ; the lat- 
ter, large and black, with their bright-red chimneys 
and long banners of black smoke, make an imposing 
appearance. In fact, all day long, and until the mists 
of the evening conceal every thing from our view, we 
see multiplying around us, on every side, the indica- 
tions of our approach to the seat and center of the 



LANDING. 45 

Morning. Reflections. Approaching the dock. 

greatest and most extended organization of human 
wealth and power which the world has ever known. 

The next morning, when we come upon the deck 
after breakfast, and take a survey of the scene around 
us, we feel this truth more deeply still. The morning 
is bright and clear : the air is calm. The water is 
smooth, and its surface is dotted every where with 
sails, or marked with long, comet-like trains of smoke 
from multitudes of steamers. And here are the most 
beautiful shores in the world, close under our view. 
The passengers, those, at least, who have not visited 
Europe before, draw their camp-stools up to the rail- 
ing, and gaze upon the scene in silence. " Here, then," 
they say to themselves, " is Ireland, in solid reality. 
Here is the Isle of Anglesea. It is no longer a spot 
on a map, or a mere conception of the mind, as it has 
been to us for so many long years. It is actually be- 
fore us, with real shores, real hills, and fields, and 
groves, as substantial as Massachusetts itself. And 
there are the mountains of Wales, rising among those 
mists, dark and sublime. There is Snowdon. This 
great expanse of water is the Irish Sea ; and all these 
foreign-looking ships and steamers are hovering about 
the far-famed seat of British industry and power." 

The scene becomes more and more exciting as we 
approach and enter the mouth of the Mersey. Every 
thing is new and strange. The shores are of the rich- 
est and most beautiful green. The forms of the houses, 
the arrangement of the gardens and grounds, the ap- 
pearance of the boats and fishing craft in the river, the 
walls of the docks, and the little black steamers shoot- 
ing in every direction over the water, all call in turn 
for our attention. The ship, in going up to town, steers 



46 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

Noise and confusion. Privileged passengers. 

now in, now out, in a most circuitous course, with much 
loud calling of orders and counter orders from the cap- 
tain on the paddle-box, speaking trumpet in hand. At 
length the motion of the paddle-wheel ceases, and the 
loud roaring of the enormous steam-pipe begins, as the 
engineer lets off the force now no longer needed. Two 
small steamers come up alongside, one after another, 
and add their blasts to the general din, and their shouts 
and outcries, which nobody can understand, to the gen- 
eral confusion. In the mean time, the decks are covered 
with trunks, valises, and bags, and nervous passengers 
are running to and fro, looking for one another, or dis- 
tracted with the question how they are to get themselves 
and all their luggage on shore : a question which they 
can get nobody to answer. The more calm and quiet 
in spirit sit still, knowing that some how or other pas- 
sengers always get ashore after a voyage, and so pa- 
tiently bide their time. 

The little steamers, in the midst of a deafening din, 
utterly indescribable, take o^ ihe privileged passengers 
and the mails. The privileged passengers are the gov- 
ernmental officers of all kinds, and bearers of dispatch- 
es. There are also usually a few other passengers 
who are crazy to get ashore ten minutes before the 
rest, and they crowd their way on board these steam- 
ers ; and others still, who, when they find that this can 
be done, hurry after them, elbowing their way, with 
their valises in their hands, through the crowds upon 
the decks, and reach the companion way when it is 
just too late, the little steamers having, one after an- 
other, cast off their lines and gone. 

In the mean time, however, the great floating mass on 
which we remain, drifts slowly in toward the dock. In 



LANDING. 47 

The custom-house. Travellers' coraplaintB. 

due time the lines are thrown out and made fast, with 
many detentions and delays, and the ship is drawn up 
to her place, the noise, confusion, and din increasing to 
the last moment. I had taken an opportunity, half an 
hour before, to ask the steward what we were to do in 
respect to our baggage. " Nothing," he said ; " leave 
it all just where it is, and you will find it at the custom- 
house." I had nothing to do, therefore, when the plank 
was placed, but to walk on shore and inquire my way 
to the custom-house. 

Travelers are very fond of making complaints of the 
vexations and annoyances which they are subjected t9 
at the European custom-houses. I inquired some years 
ago, just before making a voyage to Europe, of a Bos- 
ton gentleman, in respect to this subject, with a view 
of obtaining the result of his experience in regard to 
the method of procedure, and the reply which I ob- 
tained was simply, " There is no difficulty, if you are 
honest — no difficulty, if you are honest." I have now 
passed some ten or twelve custom-house examinations, 
and the result of my experience is, that those words 
contain the solution of the whole difficulty. The truly 
honest traveler has no difficulty and no vexation to 
fear, except, perhaps, an unnecessary delay in landing 
at London from continental ports. By being honest, I 
mean being willing to pay what the law of the land re- 
quires in the shape of duties on the property you are 
carrying, and being willing that the officer appointed 
to collect the duty should know fully what you have. 

Some persons seem to think it a great hardship that 
travelers should have to pay duty at all. A gentleman, 
for example, has some books in his trunk which he is 
going to make presents of to his friends in England. 



48 BUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

Duties on travelers' property. Advice. 



He considers it very hard that he has any duty to pay 
upon them, and thinks it very small in the government 
to exact it. But if we reflect that the government is 
at great expense to provide Hght-houses, and build piers 
and break-waters, by the aid of which this, as well as 
all other property, is enabled to get into port ; and to 
maintain a numerous police, and systems of municipal 
regulation, by which it is protected when it has ar- 
rived, there seems to be no good reason why it should 
not pay its share toward defraying these expenses ; and 
though its share may be a very small sum, I do not see 
why the littleness, if there is any in the case, does not 
rather attach to the traveler in being unwilling to pay 
the shilling, than to the government which, in maintain- 
ing uniformity in the execution of its laws, exacts it. I 
think, therefore, though I am aware this is likely to be 
very unpopular doctrine among the passengers on board 
an Atlantic steamer, that every man ought to feel that 
the government have as good a claim upon him for the 
duty on all the property he carries with him, except 
what is formally exempted by law, as they have on 
whole cargoes imported by a merchant. The fact so 
often urged that the articles are not intended for sale, 
but only for one's own private use, or for presents to 
one's friends, does not seem to have any thing to do 
with the question, as the ground on which the justice 
of the demand rests, is not the profit to be made by a 
sale, but the benefit received in the shape of the pro- 
tection of the property from sea dangers on the coast, 
and security of possession on shore. 

I advise, therefore, all voyagers, instead of spending 
their time in contriving ingenious ways and means to 
conceal this thing and that from the officers' eyes, to 



LANDING. 49 



Civility of custom-liouse officers. Entry of names. 

made up their minds that it is right for them to pay 
whatever the laws require, and then, on landing, to 
throw every facility in the way of the officers for the 
proper discharge of their duties. As a general thing, 
to discharge their daties to their government in a prop- 
er and faithful manner, seems to be all that they de- 
sire. At the various custom-house examinations which 
I have witnessed, probably an average of five persons 
have had their effects examined and passed so nearly 
at the same time with mine that I have had the oppor- 
tunity to observe the operation in their case as well as 
my own — making sixty examinations in all. I have 
never, in any of these instances, seen a bribe or fee of 
any kind offered or received ; and in every case the 
officer has seemed to me to desire only to do his duty, 
and to endeavor to make the discharge of it as little in- 
convenient to the traveler as possible. I have, in fact, 
never seen any thing wrong, except the unworthy ef- 
forts of gentlemen and ladies, from mistaken views of 
the subject, to throw obstacles in the way of an exam- 
ination of their effects, or to contrive some way to 
elude the fair application of the laws. 

On landing at Liverpool, those travelers who know 
the routine hasten immediately to the custom-house to 
enter their names in a book, in which a record is kept 
of the order of the applications. It is important to get 
an early entry upon this record, as the baggage is ex- 
amined in the order in which the names stand there. 
On going into the building for this purpose, we found 
ourselves in a large open apartment with a stone floor, 
a part of the area on one side being inclosed by a low, 
but very substantial railing. There was a gate lead- 
ing into this inclosure, and a desk at one end, where 

E 



50 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

Scene on landing. Another at the cu8tom-hou88, 

we entered our names as we came in. There were few 
persons present at the time, as most of the passengers, 
unacquainted with the usage, were still hovei'ing about 
the ship in a sort of feverish uncertainty and anxiety 
about their baggage. All this solicitude at such a time 
does no good, for the landing of a hundred and twenty 
passengers in such a scene, the getting on shore of four 
or five immense cart-loads of trunks, portmanteaus, and 
carpet-bags, amid a thundering of the steam-pipe, which 
makes all but the loudest vociferation inaudible, is a 
scene in which a man soon finds he is helpless, and that 
he has only to cast himself upon the torrent and be 
borne wherever it carries him. My table mess-mates 
and myself, after entering our names, walked quietly 
about the docks and streets in the neighborhood of the 
custom-house, leaving things to take their course, for a 
couple of hours, and then, on returning, we found that 
the movement and noise had been pretty effectually 
transferred from the pier where the ship was lying to 
the great hall in the custom-house. The floor was 
covered with heaps of trunks, boxes, and bags, and the 
custom-house porters were bringing in fresh additions 
to the mass, in a continued stream, from the great drays 
at the door. The passengers were standing all about 
the floor, or sitting upon their trunks, or crowding the 
side-walks ; some talking calmly and quietly, as if it 
were an every-day scene ; some looking around anx- 
iously for a lost carpet-bag ; and some standing per- 
plexed and confounded with the hubbub and noise, 
wondering, apparently, how such a tumultuous scene 
would end. 

When the baggage was all in, the names were called 
off in the order of the record, half a dozen at a time, 



LANDING. 51 



Books and cigars. Officer's discretion. 

and their effects were taken within the inclosure for 
examination. Now the great thing in searching trunks 
from America at the Liverpool custom-house is to look 
for hooks and cigars, as there is scarcely any thing 
else, subject to duty, which is at all likely to come to 
this port in passengers' baggage. The simple thing 
you have to do, therefore, at the Liverpool office, is to 
show the officer, as quick as you can, how many books 
and cigars you have got. As to cigars, each passen- 
ger is allowed a small quantity free. As to books, 
American reprints of English books are not admitted 
at all, but are forfeited, if found. English books, print- 
ed in Britain, are free ; and American books are sub- 
ject to the payment of a duty. Of course, it is not pos- 
sible to prescribe the precise degree of strictness with 
which these rules are to be enforced ; much must de- 
pend upon the discretion of the officer ; but I think the 
surest way for the traveler to incline that discretion in 
his favor is to afford every possible faciUty to the of- 
ficer for ascertaining the facts. Put all the books and 
cigars at the top of the trunk, so that they shall appear 
immediately on opening it, and then convince the officer, 
by the most thorough opening to view of what is be- 
low, that there is nothing more concealed. In nine 
cases out of ten he is very easily satisfied. In fact, 
from long habit of dealing with all sorts of characters, 
he reads your honesty of purpose in your countenance ; 
and, according to my experience, he feels a strong de- 
sire to interpret the laws as liberally as possible in 
your favor when you evince such a disposition to aid 
him in the discharge of his duty, and acquiesce your- 
self in the decision of the laws. 

Some persons foolishly undertake to satisfy the offi- 



52 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

The dressing case. Complaints. 

cer in part by their own statements, as if a public officer, 
in such a case, was to take the word of an utter stran- 
ger. I have, for example, sometimes heard such a 
dialogue as this. A gentleman has had liis trunk ex- 
amined, and then, when he comes to his dressing-case, 
which appears in the shape of a square box, put up in a 
canvas bag made to fit it, and which, from all that ap- 
pears upon the outside, might be full of cigars, says, 
"And that is my dressing-case; you don't wish to ex- 
amine that?" "I'll look at it, if you please," says the 
officer. " Why, it is a great deal of trouble to open it 
and put it up again," says the gentleman ; " and there 
is nothing in it but my dressing apparatus, I assure 
you, upon my honor." " Just open it, if you please, 
sir," persists the officer. The gentleman opens his 
case, and shows that his words were true, and goes 
away at last, vexed out of all patience at the unreason- 
ableness of custom-house officers. 

The officers, whether it is reasonable or not, will not 
take the word of travelers about the contents of par- 
cels, but insist upon seeing for themselves ; and it al- 
ways appears to me that they are very apt to be spe- 
cially strict in applying the rules of the law in the case 
of finding any thing hid away in inaccessible places, or 
when there has been an interposition of any difficulties, 
on the part of the traveler, in the way of a full and 
thorough examination. One incident which occurred 
at this Liverpool custom-house appeared to me to be 
an illustration of this. It seems that the law authorizes 
every passenger to take in a certain small weight of 
cigars, free of duty ; and I, having none of my own, 
offered to take a part of those belonging to one of my 
traveling companions, as he had more than the amount 



LANDING. 53 



The carpet bag and cigars. Rigid enforcenmnt of the law. 



allowed, deeming myself entitled to use the privilege 
for the benefit of another person, as well as for myself. 
He gave me, accordingly, about half his cigars, and I 
placed them in the top of the first trunk which I was 
to open. The officer paid no attention to them what- 
ever. He examined the books which I had with some 
appearance of hesitation, but finally concluded to make 
no charge. The owner of the cigars put the part 
which he had retained in his possession into a small 
carpet bag, which he did not produce until every thing 
else had been examined; and then there was, unfortu- 
nately, some difficulty about the lock, and he could 
not get it open, I did not know at the time that his 
cigars were in this bag, and as the bag itself was small, 
and appeared to contain nothing but linen, I expected 
to hear the officer say that it was of no consequence. 
But no ; he stood by quietly, in a waiting attitude, 
which said very plainly that the bag must be opened. 
He tried himself to unlock it, and produced some other 
keys ; and, finally, he left it, saying that he would ex- 
amine another passenger's trunks which were all ready, 
and return again, when, perhaps, the gentleman would 
have succeeded in opening the lock. He did so, and, 
on examining the contents of the bag, the cigars ap- 
peared at the bottom of it. The officer very quietly 
put them into the scales, found them to exceed the limit 
a little, and charged duty on the whole, which is the 
law, in case an excess is found. The duty amounted 
to some dollars. It is true, the gentleman had retained 
a rather larger supply of the cigars than he had given 
to me, but the amount was not greatly different ; and 
I could not but think that the officer's letting the one 
parcel pass without the least question, while he applied 

E 2 



54 SUxMMER IN SCOTLAND. 






Leaving the custom-house. An English inn. The bed-room. 

the Jaw so directly and rigidly to the other, was influ- 
enced in no small degree by the circumstances of the 
case. I am sure, however, that these circumstances 
were, in fact, entirely accidental, and did not result at 
all from any desire on the part of my companion to 
deceive the officer ; for, besides the honesty and fair- 
ness of his character, he was too much a man of the 
world, and too well acquainted with every thing con- 
nected with the commercial intercourse between En- 
gland and America, to have thought of such a plan as 
concealing any thing from an English custom-house 
officer, by means of having a carpet bag padlock out 
of order. 

Those who succeed in getting their luggage exam- 
ined and passed in good season follow the porter, who, 
with a great trunk on his shoulder, and two carpet 
bags in his hand, forces his way out of the crowd 
against a prodigious force of men and luggage of ev- 
ery kind pressing toward the inclosure. In such a 
case you find a cab at the sidewalk, and you drive 
to the inn. You are set down before the door of a 
house which has the quiet air of a private dwelling. 
The landlord, the bar-maid, and the " boots" come to 
receive you. You ask for a bed-room, and the bar- 
maid rings the chamber-maid's bell. The chamber- 
maid appears, dressed very neatly, with ruffles and 
cap. She shows you into a room, which has an in- 
describable English expression of comfort. .There is 
a great canopy of curtains over the bed ; there is a 
dressing-table, covered with a very nice white cloth ; 
there is a stand for the trunk ; and a very comfortable- 
looking cushioned chair in the corner. These prem- 
ises do not appear at all to disadvantage in your view, 



LANDING. 55 



The coflFee-room. Taking meals. Furniture. 

alter having been for a fortnight confined to the little 
cuddy on board ship, absurdly called a state-room. 
You long for night to come, that you may enjoy the 
luxury of sleeping once more in a real bed. 

At length you descend to the coftee-room. In En- 
gland it is the universal custom for gentlemen travel- 
ing with ladies, and often for gentlemen when travel- 
ing alone, to take their meals in rooms by themselves, 
so that by far the largest part of the company at an 
inn do not mix with, or even see, each other at all. 
And as to the rest of the guests, those who do not take 
sitting-rooms, it is the custom for them to take their 
meals at different hours during the day, according to 
their individual convenience ; so that a small number 
of tables answers for a great number of guests. The 
coffee-room is, therefore, comparatively speaking, a 
small room, and it has a type and character altogether 
its own. As you enter it, you find a screen at a little 
distance from the door to conceal the interior from ob- 
servation. The walls are of oak wainscoting, hung 
with pictures, or they are covered with paper of some 
sober and warm color. There are four or five tables 
in the room, of very dark and highly-polished mahog- 
any, two or three of them, perhaps, being partially set 
for breakfast or for dinner. These tables are not 
alike, and they are not placed in rows, numbered and 
ticketed, as they would be in America, like pens for 
sheep. There is a certain symmetry in their arrange- 
ment, it is true, but it is combined with an ease, and 
grace, and variety which gives to every one, as a place 
for breakfasting or dining, a different expression from 
the rest. There is a writing-table somewhere, with a 
bronze inkstand and a blotter upon it ; and there is a 



56 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

Neat arrangement. The host Contrasts. 

side-table, with fruit, or supplies of silver spoons and 
wine-glasses, and other articles likely to be in frequent 
demand ; and a round table, with a guide book, and a 
directory, and the morning's paper, and perhaps a book 
of maps, all neatly arranged upon it. All these arti- 
cles of furniture, and others of the same character, are 
placed in such a manner as to give a very social and 
comfortable aspect and expression to the room. The 
presiding genius of the scene is a very respectable- 
looking gentleman, with highly-polished shoes, white 
stockings, and white cravat, who steps about noiseless- 
ly, speaks in an under tone, and sets the table with a 
dexterity and grace acquired by the uninterrupted 
practice of twenty years. He answers to the name of 
John, or Thomas, and to all your orders he listens with 
the most respectful air imaginable, and says, " Very 
well, sir." You look around upon this snug and com- 
fortable-looking scene, and reflect that you are at one 
of the largest hotels in Liverpool, a city which English- 
men compare to New York. A vision floats before 
your imagination of the great dining-halls, and read- 
ing-rooms, and public parlors of the Astor or the Tre- 
mont, and the contrast makes you feel that you are in 
a foreign land. The wild dream of the voyage is over, 
and you are really and truly in England. 



THE MANUFACTURING DISTRICT. 57 



Outline of the manufacturing district. 



LETTER III. 

A RIDE THROUGH THE MANUFACTURING DISTRICT. 

If the reader will refer to a map of England, and 
trace upon it with the eye the following described line, 
he will mark out approximately the boundaries of what 
is called the manufacturing district of England. Be- 
ginning at Liverpool, go north to Lancaster ; thence 
northeast to Newcastle ; south, through York, to Not- 
tingham ; southwest to Birmingham ; and from Bir- 
mingham back again to Liverpool. This boundary in- 
closes an extensive region, which has been supplied by 
nature with inexhaustible stores of coal and iron ; and 
coal and iron are, in the present age of the world, the 
great elements of national prosperity and power. The 
inhabitants of this region i7iake machinery with the iron, 
and drive it with the coal ; and with such machinery, 
so driven, they supply the world with manufactures and 
fabrics. 

It is true that many points in this district were man- 
ufacturing centers before the use of steam, as a source 
of power, was discovered. But as soon as this discov- 
ery was made, it operated to give an enormous stimu- 
lus to all manufactures situated in places where coal 
and iron could be commanded. This was remarkably 
the case with the region marked out above. Tall chim- 
neys rose gradually from every part of it, carrying up 
the smoke and steam of thousands of furnaces and en- 
gines, and it has become the center and focus of the 
mechanical operations of the world. 

The lines above described do not by any means 
mark out this district exactly. It is only a general 



58 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

Port of Liverpool. The tide. Basins. 

idea, which I mean to give by them, of the part of the 
island in which the region of forges, furnaces, and ma- 
chinery Hes. 

When the manufacturing interests in this quarter be- 
gan to assume magnitude and importance, the most con- 
venient place of deep water accessible by ships going 
to and coming from it was found to be Liverpool. 
There were enormous quantities of iron, and machines, 
and manufactured goods to be taken away ; and cotton, 
dye stuffs, and other materials, which will not grow in 
England, to be brought. This required, consequently, 
a sea-port of spacious accommodations. Liverpool was 
well situated, but there was one difficulty in the way 
of employing it advantageously. The tide rises and 
falls so much — about twenty feet, which is much more 
than in most other parts of the world — that ships could 
not lie near the shore. Besides the inconvenience of 
the rising and falling of such a vast mass of shipping 
twenty feet twice in twenty-four hours, which would, 
of course, interrupt the process of loading and unload- 
ing, there was another difficulty, viz., that places where 
there would be a great depth of water at high tide 
would be left bare when the tide was down. To ob- 
viate these inconveniences, the Liverpool merchants 
have built a series of large basins along the shore of 
the town, with gates in the outer walls opening toward 
the river. The walls inclosing these basins are of the 
most substantial masonry, and ranges of sheds and 
warehouses are constructed along the sides next the 
shore. When the tide is high, the outer gates can be 
opened, and ships floated in from the channel, and 
brought close to the warehouses where they are to be 
unloaded. As soon as the tide begins to fall the gates 



THE MANUFACTURING DISTRICT. 59 

The Liverpool docks. Intercourse with America. 

are closed, and thus the egress of the water is prevent- 
ed. The ships are, consequently, kept afloat, and are 
sustained at their proper level for being unladen easi-, 
ly upon the piers, though they are of course imprison- 
ed in the basin until the tide rises again, and allows of 
the opening of the outer gates. These docks, as they 
are called, are very celebrated all over the commer- 
cial world. They are now very numerous, and some 
of them are enormously extensive. They line the 
whole shore, and are often crowded with the shipping 
which comes to bring cotton from America, and to take 
manufactured goods away. The Liverpool docks are 
regarded as constituting, in fact, one of the wonders of 
the world. 

The manufacturing district, including Liverpool as 
its port, attracts great attention from all who are in- 
terested in studying the elements of the greatness and 
glory of England. Of course, this region and its port 
have a more direct intercourse with America than any 
other portion of the island. Our main lines of pack- 
ets and steamers go to Liverpool, as the largest por- 
tion of business travelers wish to land there. Pleasure 
travelers, whose destination is London and France, 
though they generally feel little interest in goods and 
machinery, submit to the necessity of landing in Liv- 
erpool too, though their first object, after passing the 
custom-house, is generally to get into the London train 
as soon as possible, and to be landed, without the intei'- 
vention of a single night, at their hotel in the west end 
of the metropolis. 

My plan was at this time a little different. I was 
going to Edinburgh, and as there was no rail-road on 
the western side of the island, after spending a day or 



60 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 



Rail-way station. Sta- ing macbiues. 



two in Liverpool I was to strike across the country to 
York, in order to take the great rail-road to the north 
.on the eastern side. 

I took my place, accordingly, in the train from Liv- 
erpool, through Manchester, to York. The depot — or 
the station, as it is more properly called in England — 
is an enormous building of the most substantial struc- 
ture, and of no little architectural pretension ; looking, 
in fact, more like a city hall than an office for the dis- 
patch of travelers. We entered a spacious hall, where 
we took our places in a line formed before the ticket 
master's counter, and advanced in the line in regular 
order, so that each new-comer could be served in his 
proper turn. The ticket officer had a little machine 
before him, by means of which he stamped every ticket 
with a number before delivering it to the applicant. 
The machine contained a sort of clock-work, so that it 
shifted the number each time, as an impression was 
made, to the one next higher, and it made a record at 
the same time of the number of impressions which were 
taken. Thus, at the end of the day, the index showed 
how many tickets the clerk had sold. He could not 
stamp two with the same number, for the numbers 
were changed of themselves, by the internal mechanism 
of the machine ; and he could not safely issue a ticket 
without stamping it, for if he should do so, it would at 
once be discovered by the conductor — or guard, as he 
is here called — when he collected the tickets of the 
passengers. 

This kind of minuteness of machinery for regulating 
the transaction of such business is carried to a much 
greater extent generally in Europe than in America. 
In Paris, for example, there is in every omnibus a con- 



THE MANUFACTURING DISTRICT. 61 



Paris omnibus ,ii American maDagement. 



ductor, whO: admits the passengers and receives the 
fare. To insure his accounting for all that he receives, 
there is a piece of clock-work, with a bell attached to 
it, hung up in the omnibus, by the door. Every time 
a passenger enters, the conductor has to pull a cord, 
which strikes a bell, and moves an index forward one 
degree. If two passengers enter together, of course he 
strikes it twice. If he omits this signal, the coachman 
and all the passengers know that he is dishonest, and 
he incurs great risk of being exposed. And as the in- 
dex moves forward one degree every time the cord is 
pulled, the proprietors of the line know at night ji/st 
how many passengers have entered the coach during 
the day. In America how different ! There is no con- 
ductor. The coachman takes the fares through a round 
opening in front of the coach. There is no check upon 
his accounts ; in fact, he keeps no accounts. He just 
empties his pockets at night at the office ; and if the 
proprietor finds that his payments do not average as 
much as those of other drivers on similar lines, he dis- 
misses him, without stopping to inquire whether the 
failure is owing to his want of activity in securing pas- 
sengers, or to want of honesty in paying over the pro- 
ceeds. 

But to return to the rail-way. There was a certain 
number of officials at the station, with a peculiar dress, 
and with inscriptions upon their hats, designating them 
as rail-way servants. It is their province to receive 
and secure the baggage, and to wait upon the passen- 
gers, directing them to their proper seats, and taking 
care that they do not, by mistake, get into the wrong 
cars. In America the passengers take care of them- 
selves. The English rail-way servants are very at- 

F 



62 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 



W' 



Conveniences and costs. Classes of cars. 

tentive and civil, and their assistance diminishes very 
much the nervous sort of solicitude w^hich most people 
feel in getting their places in a rail-v^^ay train. Many 
American travelers are earnest in their praises of these 
conveniences, and say to one another, How admirably 
every thing is regulated in England. This would be 
all very well if they did not, within the next hour, com- 
plain of the exorbitance of the demands every where 
made upon them in England, having to pay twice as 
often, and twice as much, as in America. The fact 
seems to be that in Europe the government takes care 
of the people, taxing them well to pay the expense. In 
America the people take care of themselves, and so 
save their money. It is true that in this case it is the 
government of the rail-way company, and not that of 
the queen, which acts, but the principle is the same. 

There are four classes of cars upon the English 
rail-roads, designed respectively for as many different 
grades of passengers, it being considered a very essen- 
tial point in England to keep up every where, very 
distinctly, the lines of demarkation which separate the 
different ranks of society. We, of course, as true re- 
publicans, decided ourselves to belong to the first rank, 
and accordingly entered a first-class car. These cars 
are constructed very differently from those used in our 
country. The interior of each car, instead of being 
finished in one large apartment, with a passage way 
up and down the middle, and settees or chairs upon the 
sides, is divided into three or four compartments, with 
doors in the sides of each, and two seats running across 
the car, like the seats of a coach. Of course, half the 
company have to ride backward. The object of this 
arrangement is the seclusion of the passengers, as far 



THE MANUFACTURING DISTRICT. 63 

Distinction of ranks. English, and American ideas. 

as possible, and to carry out completely the system of 
a distinction of ranks, by enabling those of the first 
class to subdivide themselves and keep separate from 
each other. In fact, all the arrangements of traveling 
in England seem to keep this object continually in view. 
To put a large company of dukes, squires, lawyers, 
merchants, and clerks — even if they are all well dress- 
ed and gentlemanly in manners — into one great coach 
together, would be considered in England very demo- 
cratic and ungenteel, and, of course, absolutely intol- 
erable. Besides, there is something very inconsistent 
with English ideas of propriety in such a wholesale mode 
of management as putting fifty ladies and gentlemen to- 
gether, making of them, as it were, one mass, and trans- 
porting them from place to place as a whole. In Amer- 
ica we think this is a fine idea. We are doing a great 
business by it. We work to advantage in accomplish- 
ing the result. In England they look not exclusively 
at the result, but pay some attention — too much, per- 
haps — to what they regard a genteel and proper way 
of accomplishing it. They preserve, as much as possi- 
ble, the independent individuality of every traveler. 
This is strikingly the case at the inns and hotels. An 
English inn is as close an imitation as can be made of 
a private house. Every thing is kept still and quiet 
about the doors. The party arriving, if of any conse- 
quence, is received by the landlord and landlady, the 
chamber-maid and porter (called always boots), in the 
way, precisely, that a gentleman would be received by 
his servants at his own residence in the country. They 
are conducted at once to their own rooms, where they 
live in perfect seclusion, scarcely seeing or hearing of 
any other guests in the house during their stay. It is 



64 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

Plan of English hotels and inns. Its advantages and evils. 

true, there is a public room, called the coffee-room, asl 
has been already described, where single gentlemen' 
take their meals ; but even in this public room the gen- 
tlemen are all studiously separated from each other. 
Each has his separate breakfast, at his own separate 
table, served very particularly for himself alone. This 
system continues through all the grades of hotels and 
inns, from the highest to the lowest. Even in the hum- 
blest village public, where but one table in the coffee- 
room can be afforded, if two guests come in together, 
each has his own separate breakfast, on his own ex- 
clusive portion of the board. Putting two strangers 
together, and giving them one double breakfast be- 
tween them, strikes an Englishman very much as it 
would us to give them one double-sized plate, as a mat- 
ter of convenience and economy. Judge, then, of the 
astonishment of an Englishman in being summoned by 
a gong, at the Astor or the Tremont, to go in with a 
hundred others in a throng, to " be dined" by twenty 
waiters, as if by contract ! 

How much better the English system is ! exclaims 
the reader. In some respects it is undoubtedly better ; 
but it makes the traveler very solitary. Then, besides, 
all this separate provision, this individuality of attend- 
ance, must be paid for. The Tremont dinner costs, per- 
haps, a dollar. The same repast, ordered and served 
individually at the Brunswick Hotel in London, would 
be nearer a pound. In America, in a word, you se- 
cure the main points of comfort or luxury, as the case 
may be, and dispense with the pomp and parade. In 
England, on the other hand, your vanity is flattered 
by a constant recognition of your individual import- 
ance ; but you must pay a double price, in considera- 



THE MANUFACTURING DISTRICT. 65 

First-class cars. Their luxurious accommodations. 

tion of it, or else submit to a great reduction in the val- 
ue of the more substantial benefits you receive. 

To return to the rail-way. Each seat in the com- 
partments of the first-class cars is divided, by broad 
and well-stuffed arms, into three sittings, each of which 
is, to all intents and purposes, a very capacious and 
comfortable arm-chair, stuffed and lined in a very lux- 
urious manner. There are a multitude of other conven- 
iences besides, varying, indeed, in the different lines, 
but sufficient, in all cases, to secure to the traveler a 
high degree of elegant ease in his journey. You will 
find, perhaps, for instance, a wedge-shaped cushion be- 
hind you, placed with the thick part down, and taper- 
ing to an edge above. This cushion is suspended by a 
long cord, and may be hung at different heights by 
means of it, there being three hooks at different eleva- 
tions above. Thus the traveler may accommodate the 
back of his arm-chair to the conformation of his own 
figure, or to the varying positions which fatigue or de- 
sire of change may require. There are straps and oth- 
er conveniences overhead for receiving hats, bonnets, 
and umbrellas ; and a lamp, always burning in a sort 
of sky-light in the center, but never seen until we enter 
some gloomy tunnel and need its light, when it bright- 
ens into view, and cheers and enlivens the compart- 
ments, as if suddenly lighted by an unseen hand. There 
are stuffed supports on each side, at the proper height, 
upon which the traveler may lean his head, if inclined 
to sleep, and foot-stools for the feet, and bands, like 
those of private coaches, to support the hands. 

Every exertion is thus made to render the first-class 
cars as attractive as possible, in order to draw the 
passengers into them, out of those of the second clasSj 

F2 



66 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

Second-class cars. GeneraUy preferred by travelers. 

into which a considerable majority of travelers prefer 
to go ; the price being much less, and the chief differ- 
ence being in the softness and comfort of the seats. 
The difference of price, in going from Liverpool to Lon-, i 
don, is about two dollars and a half, which many per-|l 
sons consider too much to pay for the mere fact of hav 
ing a cushion to sit upon, and being in genteel com- 
pany, for half a day's ride. There is, therefore, a great 
tendency to take the second-class cars. To counteract 
this tendency, the rail-way company are very careful 
to do nothing which can possibly be avoided to make 
them comfortable. The seats are bare benches. There 
is only one window on each side, and that a single pane 
of glass in the upper part of the door. There is no di- 
vision of any kind between the separate sittings, and 
nothing to afford any support to the passenger but the 
hard and perpendicular partition behind him. It is a 
curious circumstance that all these and the other dis- 
comforts of the second-class cars are wholly unneces- 
sary, and are only kept up to increase the distinction 
between them and the first-class cars ; for the ex- 
pense of fitting up the former like the latter, averaged 
upon all the passengers who would travel in them 
during the time that such cars will last, is so small as 
to be almost wholly inappreciable. A large majority 
of the whole body of travelers take the second-class 
cars. The proprietors would doubtless like to make 
them comfortable ; they could do it, just as well as not, 
were it not for this necessity, considered in England so 
absolute and imperious, of making and sustaining a dis- 
tinction. The whole case is a curious instance of the 
conflict between the leveling tendencies of the modern 
improvements and progress in social life, and the ideas 



THE MANUFACTURING DISTRICT. 67 

Tunnel under the city. Tlie lamp. Scenery of the country. 

and habits of ancient days. The rail-way insists ab- 
solutely on taking the genteel and the industrious class- 
es in the same train, and is struggling continually to 
get them into the same cars. 

Soon after getting comfortably installed in my seat, 
with a snug little party of aristocratical travelers like 
myself, the train began to roll along ; its first move- 
ment being to enter a long, dark tunnel, leading, for a 
mile or two, under the city of Liverpool. We at 
length emerged again, and the evening-like expression 
which the light of our lamp had given to the interior 
of our car gave place again to the white light of day. 
Our speed increased, and we commenced our flight 
over a region of country which, justly considered, is 
probably one of the most wonderful in the world. 
Here is a district of some fifty miles in extent, every 
way, which exhibits nothing but one vast congeries ot 
mills, mines, manufactories, and furnaces of every form 
and character, dotting every where a scene of the most 
luxuriant rural beauty which the imagination can con- 
ceive. The buildings for the machinery, the houses 
for the workmen, the kilns, the tall chimneys, and the 
thousand bridges, and viaducts, and culverts, are all 
constructed of a dark-gray stone, or of bricks almost 
equally gray. The grass, the hedges, and the trees 
are of the most luxuriant green ; and every inch of 
the ground seems occupied and covered either with 
the architecture or the verdure. No ; there are the 
roads and the streams besides. But the roads, as you 
look down upon them from the train, seem only gravel 
walks, as smooth and clean as a floor ; and the streams 
look also like gravel-walks, of precisely the same kind 
except that they have low green banks instead of walls 



I 



68 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

Smoke and chimneys. Succession of towns. 

at the sides, and a few inches of water flowing gently, 
along them. 

The air is thick and murky every where with the 
smoke of thousands of fires, which rolls in dense vol- 
umes up from the summits of chimneys of immense 
magnitude and height, and then drifts away in dark 
masses, driven by the wind, enveloping the whole coun- 
try, at last, in the atmosphere of a conflagration. A 
lady, who was my fellow-passenger, said it was "quite 
shocking — the smoke !" It ought not, however, to have 
been considered shocking at all. It formed an essen- 
tial and characteristic feature of the scene. It helped 
very much to impress the traveler with the conviction 
that he was really in the midst of the regions celebra- 
ted all over the world as the center and focus of the 
mechanical industry and power of the human race ; a 
spot where more has been done within fifty years to 
promote the comfort and welfare of mankind than the 
greatest military hero ever did to interrupt and de- 
stroy it. 

The manufactories and the dwellings of the opera- 
tives are scattered every where, and seem to occupy 
the whole land. They spread over the plains ; they 
cling to the hill-sides ; they nestle in every glen and 
valley. At certain points they gather into enormous 
masses, and take a common name. One vast conglom- 
eration of these structures, over whose ancient-looking, 
slated roofs we ran for half a mile, they told U5 was 
Manchester. Another was Rochdale ; another Wake-i- 
field ; and there were multitudes of others, which we 
passed in such rapid succession that we did not care 
for their names. These clusters, however, named or 
unnamed, scarcely seemed to possess an independent 



THE MANUFACTURING DISTRICT. 69 

Scenery. Arrival at York. 

individuality. They appear rather as parts, subordi- 
nate, though important, of one stupendous whole ; the 
few denser foci of influences, whose power is one and 
the same over all the region. There were a thousand 
details in the landscape, too, as we rolled along, which 
attracted our attention : plantations of forest-trees or 
of flowers along the sides of the rail- way track ; gar- 
dens ; now and then a picturesque and beautiful coun- 
try residence, with its green lawn before it ; little rail- 
ways of such a size as boys would make for play, with 
long rows of baskets of coals upon them, on trucks, go- 
ing from a mine to a canal ; and canal-boats, painted 
black and vermilion, creeping, like gay bugs of enor- 
mous size, slowly upon the water. Every where 
hedges without number were to be seen, bordering the 
fields, and dividing the smooth slopes of hills clothed 
with verdure and beauty to the summit. 

We found ourselves at length obviously passing be- 
yond the confines of the manufacturing region. The 
chimneys disappeared. The air became clear. Ru- 
ral villages and broad fields of grain filled the view ; 
and at two o'clock, having left Liverpool at nine, we 
trundled through a modern archway cut sacrilegiously 
through the ancient walls of the venerable old city of 
York. A " fly" took me through a series of antique- 
looking and very quiet streets, and set me down at the 
♦' Old George, in the Pavements." 



70 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

York. Gate-waya. Wallg. 



LETTER IV. 

July 20. 

York is one of the most famous ancient cities in En- 
gland. It presents many peculiarly striking aspects to 
American eyes. In the first place, it is finished, and 
has been so for a century, as I should think. There 
seems to be not a building going up or undergoing re- 
pairs in any part of it, except that here and there an 
architect is replacing a buttress or a mullion in some 
antique church, by putting in one exactly similar to the 
one which has gone to decay. Again, a large portion 
of the old walls and gate-ways remain. In pursuing 
your way along any one of the principal streets out of 
the city, you soon come to an ancient and ponderous 
gate-way, with a broad, arched passage for carriages in 
the center, and narrower ones at the sides for pedestri- 
ans. Above these passages, which occupy the ground 
floor, there is a sort of second story, with loopholes 
for arrows or musketry ; though sometimes these open- 
ings have been enlarged into rustic windows, to fit the 
premises for occupation by a family. This second 
story terminates in turrets, or battlements, above. On 
each side of this gate-way is an ancient, well-worn 
flight of stone steps, with stone balustrades, by means 
of which you may mount to the top of the wall. This 
wall does not now entirely surround the city ; portions 
of it only remain, and in some of these portions the top 
is not accessible, being in a state of too great dilapida- 
tion and decay. On ascending the walls, however, at 
those points where they are yet entire, you find that 
they extend along on the summit of a ridge of earth, 



MINSTER AT YORK. 71 

The parapet. View from the walls. Quiet in the city. 

like a rail-road embankment, with a grassy slope de- 
scending toward the city on one side, and toward the 
country on the other. Upon this embankment the wall 
is built, about ten feet high, and it is perfectly flat upon 
the top, except that the outer edge is carried up, in the 
form of a parapet, about five feet higher than the rest 
of the wall. This parapet is pierced with loopholes 
and embrasures. Within the parapet, the top of the 
main body of the wall is flat and smooth, and forms a 
delightful pnomenade. You see, over the parapet, the 
fields and hedges, and other rural features of the coun- 
try. On the other side, toward the city, you look down 
upon rows of cottage-like houses, with gardens and 
fruit-trees between them and the wall, and upon quiet, 
neat streets, the residence of an humble class of citizens, 
whose wives seem to have nothing to do but to keep 
the courts and yards neatly swept, the floors clean, and 
the geraniums and myrtles in their windows watered 
and in order. 

There is a good deal of moving and bustle in the city 
at mid-day, but it is a very quiet kind of bustle. Crowds 
of peasant-like looking men, quaintly dressed in the 
fashion of the last century, walk to and fro. Donkey- 
carts pass occasionally, and now and then a carriage. 
And two or three times a day an omnibus from the 
rail-road, with trunks and baggage upon the top, drives 
gently and carefully up to the door of the inn. 

Throughout the city every thing has an expression 
of antiquity. The houses, though kept in most excel- 
lent preservation, have forms which have long since 
passed away from the art of architecture. You are 
continually coming upon some gem of a church, small, 
irregular in form, tottering, venerable, which shows by 



72 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

Aspect of antiquity. The Minster. Its accessories. 

its whole aspect, without and within, that it was orig- 
inally intended as a very humble and unpretending 
structure, being of an extreme and primitive rudeness 
in its materials and workmanship ; and yet time has 
given it a value and a charm which are indescribable, 
and every thing in and about it is now preserved with 
the most scrupulous care. 

But the great point and center of attraction in York 
is the Cathedral church, called the Minster. This 
minster stands in a quarter of the city over which it 
seems to reign like a queen, and the whole of which it 
seems to invest w^ith its own character of elegant 
grandeur. On first approaching it, the effect which it 
produces on the mind is impressive in the extreme. 
The enormous mass reposes before you, with its count- 
less towers and turrets, its buttresses and battlements, 
in the midst of a scenery of parks, gardens, chapels, 
ruins, and elegant residences, all belonging to, and in 
perfect keeping with itself These residences are oc- 
cupied by the dean of the chaptei-, the canons, and other 
ecclesiastical dignitaries connected with the service of 
the Cathedral, and living in elegant leisure upon its in- 
comes. 

I have been spending several days in town, chiefly 
for other purposes, but in part for the sake of attending 
divine service in the Cathedral on the Sabbath. In 
going over the empty edifice, with a verger for a guide, 
in the middle of the week, we see only the shell, as it 
were — a skeleton, lifeless and desolate. But in joining 
the congregation who come in the ordinary course of 
divine service to worship within its walls, we seem to 
see the vast structure animated with its own proper 
soul. It is awake to life. It is fulfilling its function. 



MINSTER AT YORK. 73 

Sunday moniing. The steps. Interior. Monuments. Iron cage. 

I accordingly waited till the hour of service on Sun- 
day morning, before visiting the interior of the Cathe- 
dral. Before the ordinary door of entrance, which is 
on the south, I found a great square of steps, made thin 
and sloping on every side by the wear of centuries. 
Several persons were collected before the door and un- 
der the ancient archway, waiting for the doors to be 
opened. The number thus waiting gradually increas- 
ed, until at length the gates gave way and the crowd 
pressed in. We found ourselves in the midst of a for- 
est of clustered columns, rising out of the smooth stone 
pavement, which extended far and wide on every side". 
These columns were terminated above at a vast height 
by groins and arches, beyond and through which we 
could see long ranges of windows of stained glass. 
Here and there were monuments of great variety of 
form and structure, some against the walls, some in 
niches and recesses, and some built upon the floor, with 
carved and sculptured canopies of stone over them. In 
one place, at the base of a pillar, there was a great 
iron cage, within which lay, upon the stone floor, a form 
so shapeless and discolored, from the efl^ects of age, that 
it was impossible to tell whether it was originally a 
rude effigy in stone or a mummy. In the mean time 
people came continually in, until there were soon sev- 
eral hundreds walking to and fro over the great ex- 
panse, across the transepts, or up and down the aisles, 
or going out at the various doors which conducted them 
into green yards of very varied forms, and ornamented 
with gravel-walks and parterres of flowers. These 
doors were of old oak, eaten away by time, and with 
enormous bolts, bars, and hinges, corroded and wasted 
to mere skeletons by rust. The hum and reverbera- 

G 



74 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

The screen. Architectural ornaments. Vergers. 

tion of all these footsteps filled the whole vast structure 
with a murmuring sound, above which we could hear 
the chiming and tolling of the bells in the lofty towers, 
which seemed as remote and subdued in tone as if it 
came, like distant thunder, from the sky. 

It was, however, only a portion of the edifice which 
was yet open to us. Through various doors and grat- 
ed gates we had vistas of other portions of the build- 
ing, from which we were yet excluded. One of these 
closed avenues passed through the middle of a great 
screen, twenty feet high, consisting of a vast congeries 
of niches, mullions, arches, and pinnacles, most elab- 
orately carved, and covered with sculptured images of 
apostles and saints, and every other architectural or- 
nament. In the center of this screen was the arched 
door-way above referred to, which was closed by two 
ponderous iron gates. Through these gates we could 
see a long aisle, with rows of monuments and columns, 
and the carved and sculptured work of other screens on 
each side of it. Two officers, in a peculiar dress, and 
with long and slender white poles in their hands, stood 
on each side to guard this entrance, as if to be ready 
in case of the contingency of any of the Christian woz-- 
shipers attempting to force the iron doors. As several 
ladies and gentlemen came up to this place, and were 
standing near, as if waiting for admission, an attend- 
ant, in a long black gown, ornamented with abundance 
of tags and tassels, came to them and said, in an au- 
thoritative voice, " These gates will not be open till 
half past ten." 

It was a verger. There were seven of them, in a 
similar dress, among the crowd. They are the door- 
keepers of the building, and form a sort of ecclesiastic- 



MINSTER AT YORK. 75 

The choir. Imposing effect. Arches and columns. 

al police, to keep the passages open, and to regulate 
the movements of the crowd. When half past ten ar- 
rived, the gates opened, and we all pressed forward 
into the inclosure. 

We advanced along the passage, between lines of 
pillars and monuments, and a profusion of other archi- 
tectural decorations, and at length turned to the left, 
and entered an inner inclosure of an oblong form, in- 
tended to accommodate the congregation. This was in 
what was called the choir of the church. The space 
inclosed in this case seemed about equal to the whole 
interior of one of the larger churches in our country, 
and contained, as I judged, seats for a thousand or fif- 
teen hundred persons. The whole aspect of it within 
is imposing in the extreme, from the vast extent and 
variety of the architectural structures and ornaments 
which it exhibits on every side. It is inclosed by what 
is called a screen, which extends from column to col- 
umn along the sides and ends of it. This screen va- 
ries in its construction and character in different parts. 
It consists of carved and sculptured work of immense 
variety and labor in the details ; forming stalls below, 
that is, separate seats in niches, as it w^ere, each of 
which is surmounted by a sort of canopy of arched 
work. Above these are carved heads, and statues, and 
ornamented open work ; and higher still, perhaps twen- 
ty feet from the pavement, the screen terminates in 
ranges of turrets and pinnacles, light and airy, and half 
transparent, through the openness of the work. Above 
the screen, in every direction, the view is lost among 
countless arches and columns, and in long vistas ex- 
tending here and there among antique windows of 
stained glass, and carved images, and monumental in- 



76 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

The pulpit. Reading desks. The altar. 



^ 



* 



scriptions, and pendants hanging from the ceiling at a 
vast height above. 

A New England Congregationalist would look, a 
first, in vain, among all the objects in view within the' 
inclosure, for the pulpit. On a second examination he 
would find five structures, either of which he might im- 
agine intended for such a purpose. These structures 
are placed all around the apartment, and are of every 
form and variety. One is a sort of tablet, supported 
upon the back of a great gilded bird, the bird itself 
standing upon a globe likewise gilded. It is placed in 
a position neither in the center nor aside. Behind it 
is a regular desk, raised above the surrounding pews, 
and handsomely cushioned. There is another desk still 
more conspicuous. It stands, in fact, directly in the 
center of a broad passage way, which occupies the 
middle of the floor of one half the inclosure ; the bench- 
es and pews in this part extending lengthwise, parallel 
to the central passage way, and rising on each side to- 
ward the walls. In the other half of the apartment 
the seats are placed crosswise, and occupy almost the 
whole breadth of the space inclosed. Then there are 
two other structures, more nearly of the usual form of 
pulpits, one on each side of the apartment, against the 
screen, and midway between the two ends. These 
last are very richly carved and gilded, and ornament- 
ed with armorial bearings and other insignia. They 
are surrounded by a sort of canopy of open work, pro- 
fusely decorated with sculptured ornaments of every 
kind. Then, lastly, there is the altar, as far as possi- 
ble from all these other pulpits and desks, being placed 
at the extreme end of the inclosure on the other side. 
It is separated from the space near it that is occupied 



MINSTER AT YORK. 77 

Communion eer\dce of gold. The congregation. 

by seats, by a massive rail, with a cushioned step for 
communicants to kneel upon in front of it. The altar 
itself, within the rail, is furnished with a superb com- 
munion service of gold. 

If now the reader should say that all this description 
has given him no very distinct idea, but has only left 
upon his mind a confused conception of stalls, pulpits, 
pews, columns, pinnacles, and sculptured images, I an- 
swer that that, in fact, is pretty much all the impression 
which is left on the mind by actually visiting the scene. 
Whatever conception, however, the reader may have 
been able to form of this interior, he must imagine the 
whole inclosed by high partitions of the most elaborate 
and varied sculpture, and lying in the midst of a forest 
of pillars, rising to a vast elevation, and surmounted 
by a sort of sky of lofty arches and sculptured groins. 

Although a congregation of many hundreds of per- 
sons had entered the choir, and occupied the central 
benches and seats, all the more ornamented and con- 
spicuous pews, and the stalls, were still empty, many 
of them being guarded by officers with long rods, or 
silver maces, or other emblems of authority. About 
this time, however, a company of singing men and 
boys came in, dressed in white robes, and took seats in a 
central position, half upon one side of the area and half 
upon the other. They came in together, but unattend- 
ed. In fact, none who had entered thus far were no- 
ticed at all, excepting one lady. She came in by a door 
in one of the sides of the inclosure, with a little lad by 
her side. She had a very pleasing countenance, and 
was simply, but beautifully, dressed. She stood a mo- 
ment in a waiting posture in the open area, when a 
verger approached, and very respectfully conducted 
G2 



78 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

The lady mayoress. Insignia of office. 

her to a seat nearly opposite to where I was sitting, in 
a conspicuous and decorated pew. She was the lady! 
mayoress. It appeared that it was not proper for herj 
to go to her seat without being conducted to it by a| 
verger. 

I had been seated on my bench but a few moments, 
having had barely time to make the foregoing observ- 
ations, when a bell of far louder and deeper tones 
than those which had been sounding, and on a differ- 
ent tower from them, though apparently at an equally 
lofty height, began to toll slowly and solemnly. A mo- 
ment afterward there was a movement near one of the 
great entrance doors, and presently a procession ap- 
peared, headed by an officer in uniform. This proces- 
sion consisted of the magistrates of the city, the mayor, 
recorder, the sheriff, and the aldermen. They were 
all dressed in a peculiar costume, interesting and im- 
posing in its effect upon any one who considers it as 
a dress which has come down, from age to age, to the 
present time, and which centuries to come will not, 
probably, change. These dignitaries were accompa- 
nied by officers bearing the mace and the sword of state. 
The mace was a massive rod surmounted by a crown, 
and richly carved and gilded. When the magistrates 
themselves were seated in their proper stalls, which 
were upon one side of the choir, and which were fur- 
nished with large quarto prayer-books, in gilded bind- 
ing, placed conspicuously upon cushions resting upon 
a sloping support which passed along in front of the 
seats, the mace-bearers took their places in front of 
them, and deposited the emblems of their authority 
carefully in sockets arranged to receive them, in such 
a manner that the sword and mace together formed a 



MINSTER AT YORK. 79 

Dignitaries. The clergymen. 

cross. They remained in this position during the 
service. 

The Court of Assizes being at this time in session, 
there was another procession of dignitaries to enter 
the church, consisting of the chief baron, and the oth- 
er legal authorities, who were next escorted in with 
similar ceremony, and conducted to seats in similar 
stalls on the other side of the choir. The judge was 
dressed as we see represented in the pictures, with a 
full gray wig extending down in front over his shoul- 
ders, and with flowing robes over the rest of his per- 
son, as singular as the costume of his head. In front 
of these persons sat a row of functionaries with clothes 
of a chocolate color and of a quaint fashion, and trim- 
med with large cords and tassels of crimson and gold, 
each one provided with a gold-headed cane. Their 
hair and whiskers were all powdered, giving them the 
appearance of middle-aged men grown prematurely 
gray. 

At length all these personages and their attendants 
were seated. A company of clergymen, five or six in 
number, members of the Cathedral, came in and occu- 
pied their appropriate seats, and the service began. 
Its various parts were read from various positions : the 
litany from one place, the communion service from 
another, and the prayers and portions of Scripture from 
a third and fourth ; so that, though no one portion of 
the congregation could possibly hear all, each part 
seemed to have its turn, and every one, wherever he 
sat, found the officiating clergyman, for the time being, 
sometimes on his right hand, sometimes on his left, and 
sometimes behind him. The clergymen in changing 
their places — as in one instance they did from one ex- 



80 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

The dean's sermon. Justification by faith. 

tremity of the apartment to the other — were escorted 
by officers, to open a passage for them through the 
crowd ; and they moved in a procession, thus attend- 
ed, with great ceremony. 

The sermon was by the dean, a venerable man more 
than eighty years of age, who presides over the Ca- 
thedral, and over the company of ecclesiastics who 
are attached to it. His train of thought was substan- 
tially this : 

He said that it was much to be regretted that there 
was such a diversity of opinion on spiritual subjects 
among mankind, but that this diversity probably had 
its foundation in causes which could never be entirely 
removed ; that, among these differences, one of the 
most important related to the manner in which we 
were to regard the forms and outward duties of Chris- 
tianity, in contradistinction from a mere inward faith. 
He said that Calvin, in his zeal to destroy the abuses 
which had crept into the Romish Church, advanced 
riews of justification by faith alone, in which those 
whom he represented could not concur ; that these 
views were founded upon a few detached portions of 
the writings of Paul, without properly considering the 
circumstances under which these writings were pro- 
duced. Paul, in fact, was addressing a company of 
Christians, who, having been educated as Jews, were 
prone to attach too much importance to the burden- 
some ceremonies of that ritual, and now for us to ap- 
ply his remarks to the rites and ceremonies of the 
Christian Church itself was perverting them entirely 
from their real design. 

He condemned very decidedly the use, at the pres- 



MINSTER AT YORK. 8l 



Abuse of terms. The communion. 

ent day, of such terms as the elect, chosen of God, justi- 
fied by his grace, as more applicable to some persons 
than others in the Christian community, and as imply- 
ing a difference in their spiritual condition, and in their 
position in the sight of God. Paul applied these terms 
to Christians in contradistinction from pagans ; and 
for us to use them in reference to some Christians as 
distinguished from others, is grossly wrong. In fact, 
those expressions have no applicability at all, at the 
present day, in such a community as ours. All are 
brought up, from infancy, as Christians, now, and there- 
fore there are none chosen or elect from the rest. This 
sentiment, he was aware, might not be very favorably 
received by all who heard him, especially by those 
whose spiritual pride led them to arrogate these ex- 
pressions to themselves, to the exclusion of others 
whom they consider less the favorites of Heaven. 

The venerable prelate expressed these sentiments 
with great force and precision, and pronounced his dis- 
course with remarkable eloquence and energy, consid- 
ering his advanced age. The audience listened with 
the closest attention. 

After the benediction, the general mass of the con- 
gregation moved out of the choir, and then the public 
functionaries followed, each escorted by the proper 
officers, as they had come in. I lingered a little behind 
the rest, and observed that a few persons were going 
toward that part of the choir where the altar was sit- 
uated, while the others were retiring ; I walked that 
way too. One or two clergymen were within the rail, 
and a small party were outside of it, as if preparing to 
partake of the communion. I took a seat at a respect- 



82 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

Invitation to the communion. Number of communicants. 

ful distance to witness the ceremony. A verger soon, 
approached me with the question, 11 

" Do you wish to partake of the holy sacrament ?" 

" No, I do not," I rephed. 

" Then you can't sit here." 

I rose to retire, saying I was a stranger in the coun- 
try, and had only wished to witness the ceremony. 

" You can go and receive the sacrament," he replied; 
•' if you wish ; otherwise you can not remain." 

I bowed and retired, thus losing, perhaps, the only 
opportunity I shall ever enjoy of obeying Christ's 
command to " Do this" from a service of gold. As I 
went out, reflecting on what would be considered in 
our country the extreme liberality of admitting thus 
a stranger and a foreigner, without any question or in- 
quiry whatever, and at the discretion of a verger, to 
the table of the Lord, I turned to see how far this wide 
opening of the doors might operate as an inducement 
to mankind to come in. The number of communicants 
was three. 

On going out of the church, I found that a very large 
portion of the congregation were standing on the steps, 
and platforms, and pavements, to see the lady mayor- 
ess enter her chariot, which was very gay, and was 
attended by three servants in splendid liveries. After 
this and the other carriages had driven away, the 
crowd, saying to one another, " Well, we have seen 
all that is to be seen," quietly dispersed. 

As to the service of the Church of England, perform- 
ed with all its rites and ceremonies in full, here in its 
own home, and in hands to which it has regularly de- 
scended from former ages, he must be of a very cool 



MINSTER AT YORK. 83 



The service. Rites and forms. 

and mathematical temper, indeed, who does not fee], 
when he first witnesses it, d, strong degree of pleasura- 
ble excitement. To form such a system of rites and 
ceremonies now, anew, for the present generation, 
might be absurd, but it does not follow that it is ab- 
surd to continue them in being, as already formed, and 
to pass them down, unchanged, to succeeding genera- 
tions, as they have come down to us from those that 
are past. In fact, at the time when all these usages 
grew into being, they were, most of them, extremely 
well adapted to answer their ends. The great mass 
of the community were then incapable of religion^ 
thought. They were merely susceptible of religious 
impression ; and this impression, the solemnity and sa- 
credness with which all the forms of worship were in- 
vested, and the somber and imposing architecture of 
the temples in which it was offered, were well fitted to 
inspire. And, although correct ideas of the character 
of God, and rational views of the way to secure his fa- 
vor, are better than a mere vague feeling of awe in his 
presence, still the latter is a great good in the absence 
of the former. The responses, too, by which all the 
worshipers are enabled to take an active part, and to 
render an audible aid in the supplications and ascrip- 
tions of the worship, were well adapted to assist the 
wandering mind to fix itself on the duty before it, in the 
rude and uncultivated state of society in which the 
method was devised. I do not mean that the usage is 
not well adapted to this purpose now, but only that it 
was eminently adapted to it then. Then the costumes 
by which the public functionaries were clothed, and in 
which they still continue to be clothed in this country, 
though the usage has been abandoned in ours ; how 



84 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

Ancient costumes. Their utility as badges of authority. 

vast an influence the custom must have exerted in past 
ages, in inspiring men with respect for the officers, and 
a wilUngness to submit to the law. It is of no use to 
say that men of sense attach no value to such things,- 
for the mass of the population in such a country as En 
gland are not men of sense; at least they certainly were 
not when these costumes were assumed. Besides, in 
respect to mere ministerial offices, it is doubtful wheth- 
er even men of sense are not somewhat influenced by 
a garb. I think that even the sternest republican, who 
theoretically condemns all these things, would follow 
the directions of even a verger in this Cathedral a lit- 
tle more readily on account of his robe, coarse as it is. 
It is not merely, however, that the costume is different 
from that of other men, but that it is one which a Ions 
lapse of time has consecrated to be the badge and to- 
ken of a peculiar species of authority. The man who 
wears it seems visibly invested with the authority which 
it represents. Hence all newly invented costumes and 
badges are generally failures. Time is required to give 
them the associations on which their power depends. 
Until this is done, they mean nothing. Thus, a crown 
contrived now for the President of the United States, 
or any other similar badge of authority, would be sim- 
ply a matter of ridicule ; whereas the crown on the 
head of the British sovereign affords a real and pow- 
erful support to her authority. The reason is, that in 
this latter case the crown has been for ages a meaning 
symbol, until it has become, as it were, the visible em- 
bodiment, in the eyes of all men, of the vast preroga- 
tives and powers of which it has so long been the badge 
and the emblem. We must not, therefore, hastily in- 
fer that because it would be unwise to originate and 



% 



MINSTER AT YORK. 85 

Danger to be avoided. The Minster itself. 

introduce complicated forms of worship, and badges 
and decorations in dress, in America, it is, therefore, 
unwise to continue them in England. 

As to the sermon of the dean, perhaps we ought to 
expect in this, one of the great centers and fortresses 
of the English Establishment, a little exaggeration of 
the value of forms, and not judge it too harshly. But 
it seems to me that the permanence of the English Lit- 
urgy as a form of worship, whether in England or 
America, is most likely to be promoted by making it 
the instrument and the hand-maid of the spirit of piety, 
and not, as the venerable preacher seemed to me to 
make it on this occasion, the alternative and substi- 
tute for it. All those foundations for religious observ- 
ances are fast failing from among mankind at the pres- 
ent age, except those which rest in the spiritual wants 
of the human soul ; and the friends of such a service 
as that of the Church of England, while they revere 
its antiquity, and cling to its sacred associations, and 
see and prize its adaptedness to its ends, ought to watch 
against the dangers to which it may lead. We should 
remember that Jesus Christ, while on earth, demolished 
a divinely-appointed and splendid ritual, because its ad- 
herents had exalted the outward observances which it 
enjoined to a precedence over inward and spiritual faith ; 
and that a similar corruption would call for similar de- 
struction in any other. 

No description can convey an idea of the imposing 
appearance of the vast pile of buildings as you turn to 
take a farewell look of it before going home to the inn ; 
nor can any engraved representation of it do this. 
There are a great many such engravings, some on a 
very large and expensive scale, but they all appear 

H 



8G SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

Parting view of the cathedral. Farewell. 

like mere mechanical drawings, suitable for an archi 
tect to study, but failing entirely to convey any idea of 
the moral and picturesque eifect produced by the edi 
fice itself, as it stands in its place, mellowed and soften- 
ed by time, gray with age, enormous in magnitude, and 
surrounded by scenery of the most striking character, 
which seems to belong to itself, forming with it one 
unique and indescribable whole. As I rolled away a 
day or two afterward, along the rail- way track, on my 
way to Edinburgh, I looked back toward the city, and 
saw the enormous mass of towers and pinnacles rising 
bodily above all the roofs of the city, which seeired 
like a floor on which it was reposing. A few miles 
further on the roofs had disappeared, and the tops of 
intervening plantations of trees formed the horizon ; 
but the Minster was there still, rising above all, only 
now apparently reposing upon a floor of foliage and 
verdure. Farewell, magnificent pile ! There it has 
stood for centuries, and there it will stand, unchanged, 
for centuries to come. Generation after generation will 
pass away, but within its walls every thing will con- 
tinue the same. The same officers will come in the 
same costumes ; the same vergers will attend ; the same 
rites and ceremonies be performed ; and a long succes- 
sion of republican visitors will come from across the 
Atlantic to gaze, like me, upon the spectacle, and to go 
away, lost and perplexed, among the contending feel- 
ings which it is fitted to inspire. 



I 



COLLIERIES. 



River Tyne. The new castle. 



LETTER V. 

THE COLLIERIES. 

Newcastle, July 21. 

The River Tyne, in the north of England, flows east- 
ward to the sea through a narrow valley, and the new 
castle, which some king of England caused to be built 
upon its banks some centuries ago, was placed, as cas- 
tles usually are, where the descent was most precipi- 
tous and the valley the narrowest. The new castle is 
■aow an ancient ruin ; and the square tower, which is 
all that remains of it, is threatened with speedy destruc- 
tion ; for the great northern rail- way, in crossing the 
river on its way to Edinburgh, chooses the same point 
that the castle selected, and probably for the same rea- 
son, namely, that here the valley is narrowest and the 
banks high. A viaduct of prodigious elevation is in 
process of building, which strikes through the ruins of 
a portion of the ancient fortress ; and if it spares the 
old square tower, which, fortunately, stands just one 
side of the track, the forbearance will probably only 
prove a matter of form, for the thundering of the trains 
under the crazy walls will probably frighten away the 
old woman who now inhabits them, and soon after 
shake them down. 

The town which sprung up around the new castle 
has become one of great importance on many accounts. 
One of the sources of its prosperity has been the im- 
mense quantities of coal which lie in very extensive 
strata, under ground, throughout the whole region. 
They reach the coal by means of deep wells or shafts, 
called pits, and the whole country, for many miles 



68 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

Visit to the collieries. Precipitous sreets. 

around, is full of them. I wished to visit some of these 
collieries, and stopped a day or tv\^o in Newcastle for 
this purpose. I made several visits to them, wander- 
ing off generally alone, without any guide, for the pur- 
})Ose of having a better opportunity to make acquaint- 
ance with the people connected with the works. I 
proceed to give an account of one of these excursions, 
and shall notice a great number of little incidents and 
occurrences, of no importance in themselves, and even 
trivial in every other respect than on account of their 
aiding those who have never been in England to form 
a more vivid conception of daily life as it presents it- 
self there. 

I left my inn, and took the street leading to the riv- 
er, as my route lay across it. The declivities on each 
side of the river are so steep that a carriage-road can 
not ascend directly. The great streets, therefore, as- 
cend in winding and zigzag courses ; but there are nar- 
rower pass-ways, practicable for the donkey -carts, 
which are more direct ; and there are others, steeper 
and narrower still, running down steps and under arch- 
ed passages, for pedestrians alone. I chose the latter, 
and, in descending them, I paused several times in as- 
tonishment at the extraordinary aspect of the passage 
before me, and of the buildings overhanging it. Such 
dismal dens ; such frightfully precipitous descents ; 
steps worn shelving by countless footsteps; and build- 
ings of the most ancient structure, originally massive 
and solid, but now tottering and blackened by time and 
decay. These passages turned and branched in every 
direction, and were connected with each other in a per- 
fect net-work, so that it would have been impossible, 
once involved among them, to have found my way, if 



COLLIERIES. 89 



Scenery. Region of fire and smoke. 

I had not known that, by constantly descending, I must 
at last reach the river. The buildings on each side 
rose to a vast height ; sometimes each story jutted 
more and more over the narrow passage, and at length, 
hke an arch, closed over it entirely. In the midst of 
these places, there would sometimes suddenly appear 
an ancient church, or an old tower, or the remains of 
a ruined gate-way, or some other relic of antiquity; all, 
perhaps, turned into shops for selling boots and shoes, 
or residences for swarming families. Every where, 
in fact, there were crowds of men, women, and chil- 
dren. Every door and window, and branching pas- 
sage, was completely full of life and motion. 

At last I reached the river, and crossed it by an old 
and blackened stone bridge. I wandered on beyond, 
going toward a quarter where many columns and 
clouds of smoke were rising. 

The coal of this region is all of the sort called bitu- 
minous, that is, it contains, although perfectly dry to 
the touch, a bituminous or pitchy substance, which 
throws out volumes of dense black smoke in burning. 
So numerous are these smoky fires in the vicinity of 
Newcastle, that the whole country seems in a state of 
conflagration. I looked around me to see where the 
black columns and driving masses of smoke were most 
dense and continuous, and, pursuing my way in that di- 
rection, I passed along lanes and little road-ways into 
a region which seemed the very home and dominion 
of smoke and fire. The old walls were blackened. 
The roads and paths were dark as if macadamized 
with coal. There was a small pond whose surface 
was smoking. It was supplied by a little rivulet of 
scalding water, which came meandering a long dis- 
H2 



J>0 SUMMER IN SGOTLAND. 

iSmoke and ashes. The steam pump. 

tance through the smutty grass, smoking as it came. 
Heaps of waste coal and ashes, burning with perpetual 
fires, lay at the doors of the furnaces, new additions 
being made at the top, while the heap consumed itself 
on the sides and below. The grass was black ; the 
weeds looked suffocated ; the air was murky, and thick 
with smoke and ashes driven by the wind ; and I could 
hear on every side the hum of wheels, and the blows of 
hammers, light and heavy, and all the other sounds 
which go to make up the din of heavy engines at work. 

At length I approached a structure which appeared 
as if it might contain an engine for pumping water, 
thus indicating a coal-pit ; for, as the water accumu- 
lates very rapidly at these great depths, the work of 
keeping the mines clear of it is one of the chief things 
to be provided for. The building was small, ancient, 
and dilapidated. It had a tall chimney, and by the side 
of the chimney parts of the ponderous machinery were 
visible above the open top of the edifice. There was 
a great beam, balanced by a very heavy box of iron 
weights at one end, and carrying at the other end 
what I supposed to be the piston of the pump. It os- 
cillated slowly, and with a heavy thump at each stroke, 
and seemed weak and tottering with age. 

There was an old man seated on a little bench at 
the door of this edifice, and I went up and accosted him 
with the question whether this was a coal-pit. 

" Na, sir, there'll be na pit here, sir ; its joost an in- 
gine in the ould shaft." 

" Then this is where you pump out the mine ?" 

"Ay, sir; or thelse all the pits aroond aboot would 
be droonded with the wather." 

I do very imperfect justice to the old gentleman's 



COLLIERIES. 91 



Elalugue with an old man. Mound of ashes. 

dialect by my orthography above. His pronunciation 
of the words, and, more than all, a peculiar accent and 
inflexion, made it extremely difficult for me to under- 
stand any thing he said. What I have given above is 
only the substance of the very little which I could un- 
derstand of a long reply he gave to each of my ques- 
tions. I thanked him and put a sixpence in his hand, 
and this at once had the effect to make him still more 
communicative and obliging than before. He went 
with me around the works, and explained the opera- 
tion and design of the machinery, and gave me much 
other information, most of which was completely unin- 
telligible. I did, however, gather that the engine dM 
not raise the water to the surface of the ground, but 
only up to a long subterranean channel, by which it 
was conveyed to the river ; that it was impossible to 
descend to the mine at this place, but that at certain 
other pits, whose position he pointed out to me by means 
of the tall chimneys erected at the mouths of them, and 
which were visible where we stood, through the driv- 
ing masses of smoke which filled the air, I should be 
able to descend. 

I bade him good-morning, and walked along. The 
next thing which attracted my attention was an enor- 
mous mound of cinders, ashes, and waste coal, smoking 
and burning in various places. The slopes near the 
bottom of this mound were clothed with dusty grass 
and herbage, as if its foundations had been laid for 
some time. The sides were steep, and formed of ashes 
and cinders. At one of the sides, or, rather, at a sort 
of angle, there was an old woman slowly toiling her 
way up, by a kind of path, so far as any thing like a 
path is possible up such a steep ascent, and through 



92 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 



♦ 



Woman and children searching the rubbish. Poverty and guilt. 

such materials. As I walked along, and gradually 
brought other portions of the hill into view, I saw sev- 
eral other women and children near the top, and on 
the declivities, poking among the smoking embers, as 
if in search of something. Presently, also, I saw a cart 
coming around a point of the hill, half way up to the 
summit. It moved along as if in a road, and, passing 
across that fece of the mound which was toward me, 
gradually ascending all the time, it disappeared at last 
at the point opposite to where it had first come into 
view. 

I inquired of two women who were sweeping out an 
oven built by itself, at a little distance from their cot- 
tage, what those people were looking for among the 
cinders. They informed me that they were looking for 
bits of metal, which they could sell for something to 
be recast ; that the heap of ashes came from the iron- 
works close by ; that the whole mass had grown up 
within the last seven years; and that a similar one had 
been removed at that time to make the rail-way em- 
bankment. They gave me, moreover, a sad account 
of the characters of the women on the mound, who, 
they said, were quarreling and fighting the whole time, 
and filling the neighborhood with their disturbances. 

I walked around the mound to find the cart-path, and 
began to ascend. The side of the road toward the hill 
was walled up rudely, with masses of clinker and cin- 
ders. In some places grass was growing upon the 
slopes, and in others smoldering fires were burning. 
.A.fter a long ascent I approached a woman sitting by 
the way-side, old, haggard, dressed in rags, and cov- 
ered with smoke and dust. She had upon her coun- 
tenance a stern, hard expression, and she eyed me with 



COLLIERIES. 93 



A talk with an old woman. A purchase. 

a look of suspicion, as if she did not know whether I 
was coming as a friend or an enemy. 

It is not generally etiquette to bow to an English 
woman without having been previously introduced ; 
but in this case I thought I would waive ceremony, and 
I bowed as I approached. She nodded in return. 

" This is warm work for you, isn't it ?" said I. 

The old lady's countenance relaxed at finding an ex- 
pression of sympathy in my talk, and we fell into con- 
versation. She had a great basket of half-burned coal 
— a sort of coke — which she was carrying home to 
burn. Her apron, too, was charged with bits of what 
she called metal, I got her to let me see them, intend- 
ing to buy one of them, as a specimen of the materials 
out of which extreme misery, in such a country as this, 
may get its food. My purchase, however, turned out 
to be more valuable than I expected ; for among her 
treasures there was one little iron tripod, which I bought 
for two-pence. When trimmed and brightened up, it 
will make a very respectable plaything for some child. 
I can hardly say, however, that I bought it, for the old 
lady said I should be welcome to it, if I wanted it, for 
nothing. I, however, gave her the two-pence, in ex- 
change, for which she seemed very grateful. 

I asked her if she did not get burned sometimes, and 
she replied that she did ; and once she came very near 
being swallowed up altogether, where the fire had burn- 
ed away underneath, without having disturbed the sur- 
face. 

A little above this place there was another group, 
consisting of two women and two children of perhaps 
ten or twelve years of age. As I came up to them, I 
accosted them, as I had done the good woman below, 



94 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

Conversations. Misery and sin. 



by saying that it must be warm work for them to dig; 
among this ashes. 

" Yes, sirr, and indeed it is ; and the warrk is na the 
warst of it. What do ye think of a woman taking up 
of a brick and doing such a thing as this, sirr ?" As 
she said this with great eagerness and volubiUty, she 
began to untie a handkerchief, with which her daugh- 
ter's head was enveloped, the child looking up with an 
expression of feminine timidity and modesty, which I 
should hardly have expected to find under all that 
smoke and ashes. 

" What should you think of an ould woman," contin- 
ued the mother, showing me a great swollen contusion 
on the child's face and neck ; " what should you think 
of an ould woman taking a brick and bating sooch a 
child as this in that way, sirr ?" 

"Ah!" said I. 

" Yes, sir, and knocking the teeth of her out of her 
head, too." 

" Indeed !" said I. 

" Yes, sirr ; it is all the thruth, and it is that very 
woman out there, that you have been a talking to, that 
has done it; and a shameful thing it is for a brute beast, 
let alone a Christian." 

In the mean time, the old amazon, who still kept her 
seat where I had left her, looked defiance and death at 
her accuser, and at the first pause replied, 

" Then why dinna ye mak' your daughter learn bet- 
ter manners ?" 

Poor human nature ! To think that a company, 
mothers and children, so abject in misery, reduced to 
the necessity of groping for the means of living, from 
day to day, in such a heap of burning cinders as this, 



I 





t \ 



^ \% ' V \N^^ /^ 



■^,' I i 



m 



'"''mi 

' 'r\V\% 




COLLIERIES. 97 



Human nature. Contrasts. The William Pit. 

could have the heart to imbitter still more their wretch- 
ed existence, by hating and devouring one another ! I 
gave them some half-pence, and then continued my 
winding walk up the hill. 

It was curious to observe, by-the-way, how the same 
feelings and ideas which characterize human life every 
where were represented among the inhabitants of this 
region. In the road below I had passed a group of 
girls dancing in a ring, and playing with great hilarity 
and seeming enjoyment, "Here my father sows his 
seed," &c. In another place, where barefooted women 
were hard at work, stacking up bricks in a brick-yard 
to dry, their children had a doll of rags, which they 
were hushing to sleep in their smutty aprons, with 
gestures of great affection for it ; and at another still, 
where every thing seemed to me utterly abandoned to 
smoke, dust, and cinders, I heard a voice, as I passed, 
from the window of a cottage, addressing a boy in the 
road, " Get oop there oot of the dirt ; that's the way 
ye lairn yur little sister to sit doon there." 

But I must go on more rapidly with my story, or I 
shall never get down into the coal-pit. When I came 
down from the mound, I wandered on in the direction 
which my informant at the old steam-engine had indi- 
cated. There was no regular road, but only a sort of 
cart-path, winding its way wherever it could find an 
opening among machine-shops, forges, lime-kilns, and 
blackened cottages. I inquired from time to time for 
" the William Pit," and received such answers as, " I 
dinna ken the William Pit, sir ;" or, " Ye are varry 
right, sir ; gang strite alang ;" or, " There away at is, 
joost bye the tallest chimberly." I found I was coming 
out very near the river, and at length arrived at a little 

I 



98 SUMMEH IN SCOTLAND. 

Steam pump. Machinery. Platform. 

village of shops and dwellings, standing by itself, which 
proved to be at the mouth of the " William Pit." 

Near it was a tall chimney shaped like the nose of a 
bellows, standing by itself, and rising to a vast eleva- 
tion. I stood gazing upward at the summit of this 
enormous structure for a few minutes, and then turned 
to look at a ponderous steam-engine working a pump. 
The great piston-rod of the pump descended slowly 
and deliberately, and, after pausing a moment as if to 
take breath before lifting its heavy load of water, it 
rose slowly, but with an expression of most determined 
force. It moved so deliberately as to make only about 
six of its lifts in a minute. My attention was next at- 
tracted to a large raised platform, with many struc- 
tures, and much machinery upon it and around it ; and 
a multitude of men and boys, black with coal dust, were 
busy upon it, trundling little wagons of coal to and fro, 
and upsetting them upon inclined planes, by which the 
coals were shot down to great rail- way wagons which 
stood below, in long rows, to receive them. There 
were two great iron wheels in the air, above this plat- 
form, with a long, rope-like band passing over them, 
and descending into an opening in the platform, which 
appeared like the mouth of a great well. The wheels 
were turning swiftly round, and the band on one side 
descending, and on the other ascending, when I first 
observed the apparatus. A moment afterward a great 
cage came up suddenly to view at the end of the as- 
cending rope. It had a cylindrical roof over it, which 
was dripping with water. It was open at the two 
ends, and contained within two of the little square 
wagons above referred to. They might be three feet 
long, two wide, and two high. They were upon wheels, 



COLLIERIES. 99 



Deep descent. Getting dressed. 



the wheels resting upon rails in the bottom of the cage. 
These rails were in such a position that when the floor 
■of the cage came up to the platform, the rails formed a 
connection with similar ones laid in the platform itself, 
so that the little wagons could be trundled out at once, 
and discharged down the inclined plains as before ex- 
plained. The cage being thus unloaded, empty cars 
were immediately run into it, a handle was pulled, and 
the cage instantaneously began to descend with great 
velocity, the rope, or band, on the other side rising as 
rapidly. I watched it a few minutes, in order to judge, 
by the time which elapsed before it reached the bottom, 
how deep the shaft must be. It ran with great veloc- 
ity, and, to be within bounds as to time, I will say it 
continued to run a full minute, when another cage ap- 
peared at the other end of the rope. This second cage 
delivered its load and set out upon its return, as the 
other had done, and without a moment's delay. 

This was, as I inferred, the shaft, down which I was 
to descend. After some inquiry among the workmen, 
I found the officer in command, called the viewer, who 
said if I would go to a house which he pointed out to 
me, I should find Andrew Curtis, who would go down 
with me. I went, and found a very comfortable dwell- 
ing, and extremely neat and tidy within. I soon made 
the arrangement with my guide. " But ye'll want 
some claes," he said ; "gang oop stairs with my miss- 
us, and she'll soon put you to rights." 

I followed the good lady to a very pleasant-looking 
sitting-room up stairs, and she brought from a closet 
my accouterments for the expedition. There was a 
striped shirt, very coarse, but clean, which I was " to 
pit aboon my ain ;" and so with all the other articles, 



100 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

Heaps of burning cinders. A tall chimney. 

ending with a leather cap shaped hke a bowl. The 
woman left me after giving me my clothes, and, hav- 
ing dressed myself according to the directions, I de- 
scended the stairs, and my guide, who was a large, 
good-natured sort of man, surveyed me from head to 
foot, and said, " Ye'll not do to gang into Newcastle in 
that fashion, I'm thinkin'." 

We walked along toward the shaft, passing by a 
great blacksmith's shop, where the tools were made 
and repaired, and a wheel-wright's, where the manu- 
facture of the wagons, and other such appendages to 
the establishment, was going on. Our road to the plat- 
form lay up one of those great heaps of burning coals 
and cinders which I have before described. I asked 
my guide if the fire was always burning upon it. " Yes," 
said he, " always ; you can't put it out." He pointed 
to the tall chimney, which, he said, was " a very pritty 
bit of wark." He said it was three hundred feet high, 
twenty feet diameter at the base, and eight at the sum- 
mit, where it was capped with stone.* It had stood, I 
think he said, fifteen years, and was as true and straight 
as ever. He asked me to look up and see if I could 
see a hole in the stone border, or cap, at the summit. 
I could just perceive a little speck. He then explain- 
ed that the lightning had struck the chimney some 
years before, and knocked out a piece of stone of near- 
ly a ton weight, and yet the mark was scarcely visible 
from the ground. 

We now advanced toward the shaft, and when the 
loaded cars were taken out of a cage which then came 
up, I stepped in upon one side and my guide upon the 

* The Bunker Hill Monument is 221 feet in height, and the spire of Trin- 
ity Church 264. 



COLLIERIES. 101 



Preparationfl. Awkward suspense. A rapid descent. 

other. My guide at this moment got into some dis- 
cussion with one of the coal men upon the platform 
about some question of business, in which they seemed 
not to agree, so that another of the workmen directed 
me what to do. " Step right in," said he, " and take 
hould of this bar." The cage was high enough for me 
to stand upright in it ; but there was a round iron bar, 
wet and rusty, passing across from end to end, about 
as high as my shoulder. I put my arm over it, and, 
feeling that I was hanging over the top of a hole eight 
hundred feet deep, stood waiting for the signal for them 
to let us drop. . ^ 

I say to let us drop, for to go down perpendicularly 
eight hundred feet in a minute, more or less, is literally 
falling, though, perhaps, not falling quite so fast as one 
would without any means of retardation. I was, of 
course, naturally anxious to have the operation pro- 
ceed ; but, unfortunately, my guide, and his interlocutor 
on the platform, could not come to an agreement on 
the point at issue between them. With his hand on 
the lever which was to let us go, he remained some 
time discussing the point ; and I, not understanding at 
all the merits of the question, of course had nothing to 
do for my amusement but to speculate on the nature 
of the sensations which I was about to experience, and 
the consequences to all concerned, if the rope or any 
of the machinery should happen to give way. 

At last the signal was given, and down we went. 
The sensation was precisely that of falling from a great 
height. It was down, down, down, until at last all 
daylight disappeared, and then down, down again in 
darkness. At length we began to hear voices reverb- 
erating through the shaft. I asked if they were from 
12 



102 SUMMEE IN SCOTLAND. 

The bottom of the pit. Subterranean rail-ways. 

above or from below. " From below," said the guide. 
They grew louder and louder. We could hear the 
trundling of cars, and men shouting to horses, with 
cries rendered loud and resounding by the reverbera- 
tions and echoes. At last we suddenly stopped with 
a loud clanking noise, produced by the striking of our 
cage upon the iron fastenings at the bottom. We 
stepped out of the cage upon the floor of the mine. I 
could see nothing but a few luminous points, made by 
lamps and candles, and rows of white teeth and shining 
eyes, in the midst of black faces grinning here and 
there, and peering at us out of the darkness. 

" Come here a bit," said my guide, " and sit ye doon 
on this, till ye get the sun oot of your eyes." 

So saying, he led me a step or two, and putting his 
hand upon a damp and blackened beam, which he 
showed me by the light of a taper, attached mysteri- 
ously to the wall, motioned to me to take a seat. I at 
first hesitated, forgetting, for the moment, that I was 
dressed for the occasion. 

" Sit doon quick," said he ; " here comes a horse." 

A thundering sound rising here above the general 
din, marked the advance of a train of cars, drawn by 
a horse, cheered on by the outcries of an invisible boy. 
The form of the horse gradually revealed itself, and 
then the little cars, ten of them in a row. They had 
come, loaded with coal, to be drawn up where we had 
descended. 

My guide began to talk rapidly with the men around 
us, but in a language of which I could not understand 
a single word. They brought him a key, however, 
with which he unlocked a chest, or something which, 
as far as I could see, was a chest. It was full of little 



COLLIERIES. 103 



Candles. Clay candlesticks. Arched passages. 

candles, six inches long, and as large as a very small 
little finger. He put some of these candles into a tin 
box which he got from the chest, and then took some 
soft clay, and began to mold it about the end of one of 
the candles for a candlestick. " You use candles, I 
see," said I. " Yes," replied he, " twenty-four to the 
poond ; they're better nor rush-lights. But I'll give 
you a lamp ; I don't think you can carry a candle." 

But I insisted on trying. One of the men showed 
me how to place my candle between the fore and mid- 
dle fingers of the right hand, and to fill up all the re- 
maining space between the fingers with the clay. It 
was placed in such a manner that the lighted part was 
on the palm side of the hand, and very near the fingers, 
the rest of the candle projecting on the other side. 
Thus the clay, instead of being at the end of the can- 
dle, was very near the lighted part. I did not under- 
stand all this at the time, though I afterward found that 
by this arrangement the flame was sheltered by my 
hand and the clay from the currents of air drawing 
through the mine. 

In the mean time, as by degrees " the daylight got 
out of my eyes," I began to see where I was. There 
was a vaulted arch- way of masonry over head, and 
here and there openings, likewise arched, but dark and 
gloomy in expression, and nothing to be seen within 
them but luminous points, dim, few, and far between. 
We arose and began our subterranean tour. My guide 
informed me that the drifts, as they are called, or hori- 
zontal passages, run off in various directions for three 
quarters of a mile. It seems the coal lies in thin beds 
— that of this mine being about six feet thick — which 
beds are nearly horizontal, and extend to vast distan- 



104 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

Plan of the mine. Necessity of ventilation. Chimney. 

ces in every direction. Of course, to work one of the 
beds, they first sink a well, or shaft as they call it, down 
to the bed ; then they dig off in various directions in 
the bed, sending up the coal which they obtain by the 
excavations. They can not take away all the coal of 
the bed, for this would deprive the superincumbent* 
rock of support, and it would come down and crush 
them. They are obliged, in fact, to leave much more 
of the coal than they take away, taking care always 
that the passages which they cut are far enough apart 
to secure effectual support for the strata above. In 
some cases, where these precautions have not been ef- 
fectually taken, the strata fall in from above and make 
great mischief. In one instance, a tract of land, two 
miles square, fell in, with a noise and commotion like 
that of an earthquake, in consequence of excavations 
four or five hundred feet below. 

There is another circumstance which affects very 
much the manner of cutting the passages in one of these 
beds. There issue from the coal all the time copious 
streams of gas, which, when it accumulates in suffi- 
cient quantities, and gets mixed with common air, be- 
comes highly explosive ; and if, under such circum- 
stances, it gets enkindled by the torch or candle of 
the miner, the most terrible consequences sometimes 
ensue. To guard against this, it is necessary to have 
the mines at all times perfectly ventilated. To secure 
this ventilation, they have another shaft, besides the 
one where the coal ascends, and near the bottom of 
this second shaft they keep enormous fires perpetually 
burning. The smoke and heated air from these fires 
pass up the shaft, which thus forms a chimney eight 
hundred feet high. The draft of such a chimney is, of 



COLLIERIES. ■ 105 



Mode of ventilation. Long passages. 

course, extremely great ; and the passages cut in the 
coal are so planned, and so connected, that the supply 
of ah' for these fires must come through every part of 
the mine before it can reach them, thus keeping every 
part thoroughly ventilated. In other words, the pas- 
sages are so connected at their extremities, and sep- 
arated at every other point, that the air must come 
down the main shaft and be drawn through them all 
before it can reach the fires. This now can only be 
done by means of long passages, with no side openings, 
or with such only as can be closed up. And this ren- 
ders it impossible to adopt what might otherwise be 
the simplest plan, viz., a system of general excavations 
in every direction, leaving only detached pillars of coal 
to support the strata above. 

We set out to explore one of these long passages. 
The way was narrow, seemingly but just wide enough 
for a couple of rails extending along the track, for the 
little wagons, or " toobs," as the guide called them, to 
be drawn upon. I carried my candle, and the guide 
took what he called a lamp. It was a little tin buck- 
et, open at the top, and provided with a common bail 
for a handle. At the side near the bottom was a tube, 
branching out a little way, which contained the wick. 
This wick was very large, and blazed and smoked like 
a torch. 

We walked on for some distance, when at length I 
heard the thunder of a rail-road train coming up behind 
me. It is true, the locomotive was but a horse, and the 
cars were empty and small, but it made as much noise 
as any rail-road train I ever heard, in consequence of 
the reverberations and echoes of the dismal den through 
which it was moving. 



106 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

Railroad train. Under the Tyne. 

" What's this," said I, " coming to run over us ?" 

" It is the horse," said the guide, very coolly, and 
walking on. There seemed to be no possibility of 
turning out of the way, as the drift seemed barely wide 
enough for the track. However, a moment before the 
horse overtook us, we found a sort of shelf in the coal 
upon one side, where we clambered up while the train 
came on. The boy who drove it had a dim lantern in 
his hand, by the light of which we could see him grin- 
ning a good-natured recognition of the guide as his 
unearthly convoy thundered by. 

We scrambled down from our place of refuge, and 
walked on. A fresh breeze was drawing along the 
drift, in the direction in which we were going, so that, 
with all the contrivances for assisting me, I found it 
very difficult to preserve my light. I asked my guide 
what he should do if both lights were to go out. He 
said he should just light them again at the nearest light 
he could find. As we advanced trains of cars contin- 
ually met or overtook us ; and lights were here and 
there hung at corners and forks in the roads, which 
branched in every direction, though the openings were 
sometimes closed by great wooden doors, to regulate 
the ventilation. At length my guide stopped a mo- 
ment, and said that he should think we were now just 
about under the Tyne. The drift, or main, as they 
call one of these under-ground streets, which we were 
pursuing, took a northerly direction, and, as it com- 
menced on the south bank of the river, of course pass- 
ed under its bed. 

Half a mile further we came to a part of the mine 
where the thickness of the bed of coal was not great 
enough for men and horses to work, and their places 



COLLIERIES. 107 



Slietl and ponies. Boys. Plan of paying them. "Tokens." 

were taken by boys and Shetland ponies. We came 
into a sort of circular apartment, where some of these 
boys were eating their luncheons. We could see them 
very indistinctly, on account of the dimness of the light. 
The little savages had no clothing except an apron and 
a jacket without sleeves, both made, I should judge, 
without needles, and tied on. They looked bright and 
active, and worked away with a hearty good-will. 
They seemed pleased to show off their ponies and their 
little trains of cars before us. Their dexterity in hand- 
ling their little candles, with a ball of clay on the end 
of them, was surprising. They would stick one of 
them on a post or on the wall as they went by, and 
then, after delivering their full cars and taking empty 
ones, they would catch off their candle on their return, 
and stick it on the return car again, without stopping 
their motion. 

These boys are paid according to the number of 
" toobs" which they get down from the extreme ends 
of the drift, where the coal is hewed out from the mine, 
to the place where the larger boys and men take them 
with horses. The ponies draw two tubs and the horses 
ten. Each man or boy puts his token, as they call it, 
which is a little ticket of tin or leather, upon each tub 
which he forwards. These tickets contain his initials, 
and they are all taken off at the mouth of the shaft, and 
preserved till night, when they are counted and sorted, 
and the amount of work which each one has performed 
is ascertained. As each tub is transported first by the 
pony, and then by the horse, there will be, of course, 
two tokens upon each. The men who hew out the 
coal are also paid by the quantity they get, and if there 
are stones or slates mixed with it, the parties responsi- 



108 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

Interesting dialogue. Benjamin Franklin. 

ble are fined. The men are all paid once a fortnight, 
and the last payment required £300, not far from $1500 

My guide gave me this information as we pursued 
our way, interrupted continually by the coming and 
going of the ponies and their cars. 

At one time I remarked to him that all this scene 
was new to me, as I did not live in England. I was a 
foreigner. " Ah !" said he, " indade 1" 

" Yes," replied I ; " I am from America." 

He stopped suddenly in his walk, turned round 
and faced me, and said, with an accent of the great- 
est astonishment and pleasure, " Indade ! from Amer- 
iky ?" Presently he resumed his walk, but contin- 
ued to ejaculate, " Indade ! Then it is from Ameriky 
that ye'll be. Well, Ameriky will be the first-rate 
country of the world in somebody's day, I reckon." 
He continued extremely interested in this topic ; made 
a great many inquiries, and received, perhaps, as much 
information from me, about the workings of our insti- 
tutions, as he gave me about the mine. He liked Ben- 
jamin Franklin very much. "I have bought his life 
three or four times," said he ; "I lend them, and then 
they don't bring 'em back again, you know." 

Talking on in this way, we at last reached the ex- 
tremity of one of the branches of the mine. Here we 
found a man at work with a pickax picking down the 
wall of coal before him, while the boys shoveled it up 
into one of the tubs or cars ready there for its recep- 
tion. The black and narrow boundaries of their scene 
of labor were revealed by the flickering light of a lamp 
hung against the wall, and by the taper-like candles of 
the boys, stuck upon the carts by means of the bits of 
clay. The party eng-aged at once in rapid and spirit- 



COLLIERIES. 109 



Life in the mine. Gas. Pony trains. 

ed conversation with my guide, who was a sort of 
overseer among them. The relations between him and 
them appeared to be of a very friendly character, and 
the whole scene, as soon as one becomes a little ac- 
customed to its dismal blackness and gloom, seems one 
of contented and happy labor. The men had their 
frolics and jokes, their forms of etiquette and politeness, 
their pride and love of display ; and, in fact, they man- 
ifested all the usual phenomena which social life de- 
velops in man. We visited several other branches, 
where at the extremities they were working the coal, 
and witnessed at each the same scene. At one of 
them, during a momentary pause of the conversation, 
I thought I heard a hissing sound. On listening, I per- 
ceived that it came from the surface of the coal in the 
walls around me. It was the gas coming out through 
the pores and crevices. On a close examination, I could 
perceive little spots of frothy effervescence produced 
by the issuing of the gas through the moisture of the 
coal. The only safety in such a place as this is in the 
arrangements for ventilation, by which a constant cur- 
rent of air, circulating through the passage, prevents 
the explosive compound from accumulating in such 
quantities as to take fire from the lamps of the miners. 
As we continued our walk, after visiting these sta- 
tions, trains of cars, drawn by the ponies, were con- 
tinually coming and going, and we got out of their way 
by stepping sometimes into some niche, left in the wall 
by an old drift, which had been closed up, and at oth- 
er times upon the side track ; for in some places the 
tracks were double. Occasionally, where there was 
apparently no opportunity for escape, the guide would 
hasten on a little for a few steps, and come to a place 
<• K. 



110 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

Solitude in tie mine. Supports for the roof. 

of safety just in time. He knew exactly where to find 
these retreats, being perfectly familiar with every por- 
tion of the mine. Sometim.es he would call to the boys 
to stop, and sometimes they would stop of their own 
accord, at a place where we could easily pass ; and 
then, showing us a row of white teeth and bright eyes, 
gleaming out of a face black as the walls of their pris- 
on, they would chirrup cheerily to the pony, and 
drive on. 

At one place my guide wanted to leave me for a few 
minutes, and he asked me " to sit doon there a bit, and 
he would be back directly." I took my seat, clay and 
candle in hand, and he went away in the direction of 
some sounds of voices and labor, either distant, or 
deadened by intervening walls. He was soon lost to 
view, and I sat contemplating the scene. The walls 
of my dungeon were black ; the roof was of a crum- 
bling, slaty structure, which, showing here some signs 
of weakness, was propped up, as was not unfrequently 
the case, with small wooden posts, I was eight hund- 
red feet below the ground, and nearly a mile from any 
possible egress, with a river, loaded with shipping, over 
my head, between. A cool breeze was drawing along 
the shaft, which maneuvered in every way to get my 
light put out, but without success. At length my lost 
conductor returned, and we proceeded on our way. 

When we had nearly completed our circuit, and 
were returning to the place of entrance, though by a 
different route from that by which we had left it, my 
conductor said, " Now we will go and see the furnace ;" 
and, at the same time, he led me through a sort of side 
passage to a great wooden door, which completely 
closed the way. We could hear the wind drawing 



COLLIERIES. Ill 



Approach to the furnace. Fires. Grand scene. 

briskly through the crevices of this door, and I expect- 
ed that, as soon as it was opened, the draft would be 
very strong, so as inevitably to extinguish our lights. 
But instead of this, on opening the door, there was a 
dead calm. We proceeded, shutting the door after us. 
The man explained the phenomenon by saying that 
there was another door at a short distance ahead, so 
that when one was opened the other " took the weight," 
and prevented a draft of air ; for it was necessary to 
prevent the furnace getting a supply of air from this 
passage, which was a sort of cross-way, as it would 
tend to diminish the circulation through the whole e?:- 
tent of the mine. We soon came to the second door, 
where the wind was whistling as in the other, and, on 
opening it, there was the same calm. We closed this 
door after us and went on. 

We soon saw a great glowing light before us. Ad- 
vancing to it, we came to a large vaulted apartment, 
lighted magnificently by two great blazing fires. These 
fires were at one end, on ponderous gratings, five feet 
from the ground, at the entrances of two arched pas- 
sage-ways, looking like the mouths of enormous ovens. 
The fires were of coal, and they blazed with great 
fierceness and heat, being fanned by the strong cur- 
rents of air which came from the passages leading 
here from all parts of the mine. The bright flashes of 
the flame illuminated these passages a little way with 
a lurid and flickering light, and beyond, the view was 
lost in vistas of blackness and gloom. At the mouth 
of one of these drifts, or mains, was a little wind-mill at- 
tached to an iron rod fastened into the wall. It was 
revolving with inconceivable velocity from the effect 
of the current of air. '^ 



112 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 



t 



Safety-lamp. Quick ascent. 



The apartment was, perhaps, twenty feet square. 
We took our seats on a low bench at the further side 
of it ; and even there the heat and glow of the fires 
was as great as could comfortably be borne. There 
was a great heap of coal upon the paved floor, ready 
for replenishing the fire, and an old man, with his 
shovel in his hand, sitting upon it, resting a moment 
from his work. Here he remains in solitude for twelve 
hours, except so far as his solitude is relieved by such 
chance visitors as we were, and then his place is tak- 
en by another man, who feeds the fires for twelve 
hours more. They keep them thus burning night and 
day, perpetually. 

There was a Davy's safety-lamp hung upon the wall, 
which they use when there is reason to fear that the 
gas has accumulated in any part of the mine so as to 
make it unsafe to take a common lamp there. The 
safety-lamp is covered and protected by a cylinder of 
wire gauze, which, singularly enough, is found to pre- 
vent the passage of the flame. They always keep one 
of these lamps ready for use, and it is often found nec- 
essary to use it in exploring the mines in the morning 
before the workmen commence the labors of the day. 

We left the bright fires of the furnace-room, and, 
passing through another passage, different from the one 
by which we came, we returned to the place where 
we had descended. We mounted as rapidly as we had 
gone down, the sensation being, as far as I could judge, 
precisely that of being taken up in a balloon which had 
lost its ballast, and was running away with the aero- 
naut with a much swifter flight than was agreeable. 

I will add, in conclusion, that the whole region round 



COLLIERIES. 113 



Lower and upper world. Shields. Promenade. Prospect. 

about Newcastle, and up and down the Tyne, is en- 
tirely undermined with excavations like these ; so that 
there is a great lower world every where here, as well 
as an upper, busy at their toil from morning till night. 
The Tyne flows through this region ; and all the way 
between Newcastle and the sea it is thronged with 
shipping which comes to carry away the products of 
the mines and manufactures. At the mouth of the riv- 
er is an old town called Shields, built upon the clifis. 
There are broad, paved streets, parallel with the river, 
at various levels, and stair-way streets, or alleys, de- 
scending from one to the other. At one place a broad 
graveled walk, or road, is formed, as it were, for a prom- 
enade on the brink of the precipice. On one side of 
this promenade are houses and gardens ; on the other 
there is a parapet, over which you look down upon 
tiled roofs and quaint chimneys — paved court-yards at 
different levels, and narrow flights of old stone stair- 
ways, leading to the streets below. From this terrace 
you enjoy a splendid prospect of the mouth of the Tyne 
and the adjacent coasts of the sea. At the time when 
I was there this prospect presented a very animated 
scene ; a fresh breeze was blowing down the river, 
and the current was setting outward strongly too, the 
water rippling and foaming over the shoals and sand- 
bars. The narrow mouth of the little river, on which 
I looked down as upon a map, was choked up with brigs 
and schooners, struggling to get in against the wind 
and tide, by the help of small black steamers which 
were towing them. Other vessels were moored along 
the shores to great red buoys, shaped like a child's top 
without a peg, which floated point downward in the 
water in great numbers. The shores of the sea were 
K2 



114 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

Grand panorama. German Ocean. 

varied with high difFs and jutting promontories, with 
here a lofty monument, and there a ruined castle crown- 
ing them, picturesque in the extreme. Before me, on 
the opposite shore, under the cliffs, was a beautiful 
beach of bright yellow sand, left broad and smooth by 
the retreating tide, with multitudes of fishing boats 
drawn up upon it. A great many others of larger size 
were at anchor just in the offing, and near them a fleet 
of merchant vessels, waiting for steamers to tow them 
in. Far and wide beyond extended the broad expanse 
of the German Ocean. 



ENTRANCE INTO SCOTLAND. 115 

Berwick-upon-Tweed. First-clasa cars. 



LETTER VI. 

ENTRANCE INTO SCOTLAND. 

August 14. 

I ARRIVED at the ancient town of Berwick-upon- 
Tweed one evening a little after nine o'clock, by the 
train from the south. I had been sitting for three hours 
in my comfortable arm-chair in the car, admiring the 
extreme verdure and richness of the scenery through 
which we had been passing. Broad daylight contin- 
ued till we arrived, although it was after nine o'clock. 
My only companion in the car was a gentleman, who 
occupied the corner diagonal to mine, and who spent 
the time in reading. In fact, traveling in the first-class 
cars on an English rail- way is a very solitary sort of 
grandeur. You have a luxurious seat, magnificent 
scenery, and the satisfaction, whatever that may be, of 
feeling that you have classed yourself among the aris- 
tocracy ; but, whether your car is full or empty, you 
are generally pretty effectually isolated from all man- 
kind. 

I knew nothing about Berwick, or Berrick, as they 
call it, except that I had always understood that, from 
some unaccountable caprice of the English Constitu- 
tion, or of English history, it did not belong either to 
England or Scotland, but stood mysteriously on the 
frontiers, independent of either. I wanted, however, 
some more practical knowledge than this to help me 
to find comfortable quarters at a comfortable inn, com- 
ing into a strange place late at night. However, my 
experience is, that in such cases as this it does but lit- 
tle good to inquire. One can not well inquire with- 



IIG SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

A word to travelers. The station. The conductor. 

out exposing the fact that he is ignorant and a stran- 
ger ; and then there are so many thousand ways by 
which he may be accidentally or intentionally misled, 
when he is known to be helpless, that I have generally 
found it best to throw myself upon the current, and 
just be borne wherever it carries me. The traveler, 
at any rate, saves by this plan a vast amount of solici- 
tude, and much perplexity in balancing contradictory 
accounts ; and so he can give himself up, as I did, the 
last fifty miles of traveling in England, to the undis- 
turbed enjoyment of the pleasures of his ride, instead 
of worrying himself all the way about what is to be- 
come of him at the end of it. 

Amid the noise and confusion of the station on the 
English side of the Tweed, where the train had to stop, 
because the viaduct across the river is not completed, 
I accordingly had no means of guidance, and fell into 
the hands of an omnibus conductor, who asked me first 
if I was going to Edinburgh, to which I said " No ;" 
and then if I was going to the Red Lion, to which I 
said " Yes." I took it for granted, by his asking the 
question, that the Red Lion was the place where such 
a traveler as I would be likely to go. My trunk was 
soon upon the top of the ^bus, as he called it, and I was 
inside, and we were off before half the passengers for 
the Edinburgh train had shipped their luggage. 

It was now growing dark, but we could see before 
us an old gray bridge of many arches, crossing the 
river not far from its mouth, and beyond the bridge a 
hill, covered with the brick walls and red tiles of quite 
a large town. It was some distance from the station 
to the town, and it was getting toward ten o'clock by 
the time we entered the streets, which looked ancient 



ENTRANCE INTO SCOTLAND. 117 

The town. Streets. Crowds. Bonfires. Tumult. 

and somewhat strange to American eyes, on account 
of the absence of every thing like verdure. As soon 
as v^^e came w^ithin the w^alls, which we did by passing 
under an old gate-way, we left the country entirely. 
There are no yards before the houses, and no rows of 
trees in the streets. It is all pavement, sidewalk, and 
wall, with nothing green for the eye to rest upon any 
where. There were, however, indications of some un- 
usual excitement in the streets. Great numbers of 
men, women, and children were assembled here and 
there, and flags were flying at some of the windows. 
It was the canvassing for an approaching election. > 

We came up into the center of the town, where an 
old church-like looking edifice stood in the center of 
the street, and, turning here, we entered another street, 
where the indications of the excitement were still great- 
er. The groups here and there were illuminated by 
the flashes of bonfires. At a little distance before us 
a great crowd extended nearly across the street, but 
it seemed to consist mainly of women and children. 
They were thronging around a door, over which, from 
the windows above, two flags were flying, and their 
attention seemed to be attracted by something going on 
at one of these windows. It could not be an address, 
for nothing could be heard, as they were rending the 
air with their shouts and outcries. The coach pushed 
on until it got into the very midst of this scene, and then 
stopped. In a word, the house with the flags at the 
window was the Red Lion. 

Just at this moment, a bonfire, which I had seen in 
a side street close by, came advancing through the 
crowd in the shape of a rolling tar barrel, all in flames, 
but still retaining its form, and strength enough to roll. 



118 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

Locomotive bonfire. The Red Lion. English electioneering. 

The men and boys pushed and kicked it along into the 
midst of the street, and as it would every now and then 
take a sudden turn, and move in an unexpected direc- 
tion, putting every body to flight, the reader can easily 
imagine what shouts and outcries, and screams of fear 
and of laughter were added to the tumult. I had just- 
stepped out of the omnibus, but the burning foot-ball 
came rolling on, until it was stopped by the steps where 
I was descending, and I had to retreat to my place 
again, till it received a new impulse and went away. 

" This is the Red Lion, sir," said the conductor. 
" Which is your luggage ?" 

He took down my trunk, which was not very small 
or light, and put it upon his shoulder, I hoping to get 
through the crowd under cover of it. Directing him, 
therefore, to go on, I followed, through a tumult of 
screams and outcries which might have terrified bed- 
lam. We got through, however, to the door of the 
inn. This door was open. It led directly from the 
side-walk, with but one step, into a narrow passage 
which conducted into the interior of the inn. I press- 
ed into this opening, and as soon as I had entered, I 
turned around, and took my stand in the door-way, to 
survey the scene. 

It seems that one way by which candidates for mem- 
ben 'lip of the British House of Commons endeavor to 
secure their election is by throwing half pence, two or 
three at a time, out of an inn window, to be scrambled 
for by the children, large and small, which such a 
temptation collects. The street before me, as I stood 
in the door-way, was thronged with ragged boys and 
girls, with a great many men and women among them. 
They had their faces all turned up to the window over 



ENTRANCE INTO SCOTLAND. 119 

Scrambling for half pence. Tar barrels. Leaders of the mob. 

my head, and were holding their caps up to catch the 
halfpence ; filling the air, in the mean time, with loud 
and shrill cries of" Here they are !" " Here they are !" 
" This way, sir !" " Here, sir !" Every now and then 
a few half pence would come down — their descent be- 
ing made known by a jingling sound upon the pave- 
ment — when immediately all the boys at the spot would 
plunge together in a heap, pushing, scrambling, feeling 
around the pavement, and elbowing and crowding 
each other with all their force. Children eight or ten 
years of age would disappear entirely under the heap, 
which tumbled in upon the top of them, emerging again 
in a few minutes, when the struggle was over, appar- 
ently unhurt. 

The distribution of the half pence at length ceased, 
and the crowd of children about the door was gradu- 
ally changed into one of larger boys and men, in a peas- 
ant-like dress, who began to call for more tar barrels. 
They jammed up about the door, four or five strong, 
athletic-looking men, who seemed to be leaders, being 
in front, and filled the night air with shouts and calls. 
Whenever the candidate or his representative appear- 
ed at the window above, or the waiter of the inn at the 
door below, to know what they wanted, they would 
shout, a hundred voices together, " Tor horrills ! we 
want more tor borrills ! Give us some shilluns to buy 
some more tor borrills 1" For a long time the answer 
was, " No more tar barrels to-night ; to-morrow night 
you shall have a plenty." But the cry continued as 
fierce as ever, " Tor horrills ! we want more tor bor- 
rills!" The leaders in front, with their arms braced 
against the posts of the door, held back with all their 
force, to prevent being crowded into the inn, while 



120 SUMMER IN SCOTLANP. 

Dialogue with the leaders of the mob. A struggle. 

those behind pressed forward, and jammed to and fro, 
with all violence, as is customary with mobs on such 
occasions. With the exception of a visit now and] 
then fi'om the waiter, I had the passage-way to myself,j 
with a good opportunity to survey the scene ; and oc- 
casionally, when the storm of uproar lulled for a mo- 
ment, to have a little conversation with the leaders be- J 
fore me. I asked them what was the name of the can- 
didate. At first they did not understand me ; but one] 
of them, correcting my pronunciation by saying coU' 
didate, they said, " Oye, oye;" and all began to answeH 
the question, though they could not agree in their re- 
plies, for one corrected the others until they had given 
me three different names. " What do you have to give 
for the tar barrels ?" " A shillun a piece." " And are 
you all voters ?" " No, sir ; no, sir," said they. " Then 
how does it help the candidate to get votes, giving you 
tar barrels ?" 

I got no answer to this question, whether it was be- 
cause they did not understand the philosophy of the 
English elections very well, or because a new burst of 
vociferation here interrupted the dialogue, I can not 
say. Their importunity, however, at last triumphed. 
A gentleman from above came down and gave them 
four shillings. There was a great struggle among 
them to decide who should be intrusted with the mon- 
ey. The most grasping and rigid fist, as usual, car- 
ried the day, and away the leaders went, followed by 
the mob, raising loud shouts of exultation up the street. 
A short time afterward, as I was coming up the side- 
walk from the opposite direction, I saw them return- 
ing. The street ascended by a very gentle slope. At 
the end the view was terminated by the gate-way lead- 



ENTRANCE INTO SCOTLAND. 121 

Scene in the street. Situation of Berwick. Ramparts. 

ing out of the town, which consisted, however, only of 
two arched passages through the wall. The crowd 
were pouring through this opening, and moving down 
the streets with loud shouts and outcries. In the midst 
of them, moving on as they advanced, there was a bright 
flame, flashing sometimes high above their heads, and 
sending out volumes of thick smoke. As they came 
on I could see through the openings in the crowd the 
form of the barrel which they rolled along, in a zigzag 
direction, from side to side of the street. Crowds of 
women and children stood upon the side-walks, watch- 
ing its progress, and I'etreating as it came near them ; 
this produced some sudden flights, as the course which 
the barrel would take could not always be predicted 
long beforehand. The rolling light, with the crowd 
who were urging it on, disappeared at last behind the 
dark walls of the town hall, which stands in the street 
in the direction where they were going. 

Nothing can be more romantic and beautiful than 
the situation of the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, as 
I viewed it on the following evening, just after sunset. 
It stands on the northern bank of the river, which here 
enters the sea abruptly, and between bold and pictur- 
esque shores. The town has been a famous scene of 
contest between the English and the Scotch ; and the 
remains of its old fortifications make its environs ex- 
tremely beautiful. The ramparts are made of earth, 
and faced with walls of masonry, both on the inner and 
outer sides, and are broad' enough for several roads 
and paths, at different levels. These ramparts, as is 
usual with ttie remains of ancient fortifications of con- 
siderable extent, furnish most delightful promenades. 

L 



122 SUMSIER IN SCOTLAND. 

Picturesqiie scene. Interesting groups. 

The slopes are all grassed, and have sometimes gar- 
dens and trees upon them. The direction of the walk, 
and the views presented, are continually changing, so 
as to afford a constant and charming variety to the eye. 
Now you ascend to a bastion which had been carried 
up to a high elevation, where you look down upon 
smooth roads along the shore, and distant beaches dot- 
ted with boats and men ; and all around you, nearer, 
upon a picturesque combination of walls, buttresses, 
parapets, and green slopes. There is a long break- 
water extending to a great distance into the sea, on 
the northern side of the entrance of the river, to pi-o- 
tect it from the northwest winds. There is a road upon 
the top of this break- water, with minute objects, too dis- 
tant to be clearly seen, moving along upon it. It has 
a light-house at the end. 

Descending from this elevation, you have before you 
a long graveled walk, from which you look down on 
one side into the city, and on the other to a broad ex- 
panse of green fields waving with grain. Groups of 
children are playing every where upon the grass ; men 
are lying upon all the little summits, enjoying the even- 
ing air ; parties of women and girls are taking in the 
clothes which they had spread here upon the grass to 
dry. As you pass along, you find descending paths by 
which you can go down into the city, or you can con- 
tinue your walk upon the ramparts till you come round 
to the river. The town being north of the river, and 
the ramparts north of the town, if we commence our 
promenade as I did at the eastern end of them, that is, 
toward the sea, we shall of course complete our circuit 
by arriving at the western end, where the line of forti- 
fication comes to the river. 



ENTRANCE INTO SCOTLAND. 123 

Prospect from the western bastion. The three sti-angers. 

The town itself is on the side of a hill, and the forti- 
fications behind it are higher than the town ; and 1 
found, as I advanced toward the west, that the ram- 
parts did not descend as they approached the river, 
but were continued at the same height to the end ; so 
that at last, when I came to the end of my walk, I 
found myself upon a broad and lofty mound, towering, 
in embankments, slopes, and walls, a hundred feet above 
the water of the rivei'. There were various roads and 
pathways, and flights of steps at different levels, giving 
to the whole an aspect of great variety, and producing 
a highly picturesque effect. At a little distance up the 
stream was a steam-engine driving piles for the viadudt 
of the rail-way. It must have been nearly a mile dis- 
tant, but it filled the evening air with its echoes. There 
was a long bridge below — of stone, brown and vener- 
able — with wagons and foot passengers going to and 
fro. The shores in every direction were lined with 
smooth beaches, with boats drawn up upon them, and 
children playing in the margin of the water ; and all 
around were smooth, green hills, with that peculiar 
softness of verdure which belongs to fields which have 
been tilled for centuries. It was now half past nine 
o'clock, and the twilight was beginning to fade away. 
The evening air, calm and still, was filled with the hum 
of voices rising all around ; and now and then a dis- 
tant shout from the heart of the city seemed to denote 
that another tar barrel was in motion. 

As I stood upon the grassy ridge which formed the 
summi1>of the mound, there were two other gentlemen 
near, obviously travelers like myself, who were like- 
wise surveying the scene. English etiquette forbade 
either of us speaking to the others. The presumption 



124 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

English reserve. Reason for it. Different circumstances of the two countries. 

would be, in general, that any person who should ad- 
dress a casual remark about the scene before them to 
a stranger, under such circumstances, was an inferior 
endeavoring to push himself forward to the notice and 
acquaintance of a superior, and the intrusion would be 
repelled accordingly. I do not say that it would al- 
ways be so regarded, but so generally that they who 
are at all sensitive in respect to the intercourse and 
courtesies of life are safer in not making the experi- 
ment. It is a curious example of the many minor dif- 
ferences in manners between the two countries, that, 
while in America it would be rude for two gentlemen 
to stand silent when meeting under such circumstances 
as this, in England it would be rude for thein to speak. 
I do not wish to be understood as finding fault par- 
ticularly with the English character in this point. 
There is a necessity for caution and reserve in respect 
to forming new acquaintances in all densely peopled 
countries, which does not exist among a scattered pop- 
ulation like that of America. A great many English- 
men who censure the freedom of manners and inter- 
course in America, and Americans who complain of the 
reserve and restraint which they encounter in England, 
do not sufficiently consider this important reason for 
the difference in the usages of the two nations. All the 
arrangements of traveling, the customs of the hotels, 
and the manners and usages of the people in the United 
States, except in the large cities, are such as to facili- 
tate your becoming acquainted with your fellow-trav- 
elers, if you wish to do so ; whereas in England all 
these things are such as to enable you to keep most 
completely separated from them. The reason is be- 
cause travelers in the one country wish to know and to 



ENTRANCE INTO SCOTLAND. 125 

The salmon fifihery. Valley of the Tweed. 

become known. They depend on this as one of the 
chief sources of the interest and pleasure of the journey. 
In the other country they wish to avoid making new 
acquaintances. They have too many acquaintances 
already. They have been in a continual round of com- 
pany, perhaps, for months, and travel for the sake of 
rest and retirement. There is thus a reason for the 
difference which prevails, a reason justifying it in the 
main, though undoubtedly each country often carries 
its own peculiarity too far. 

I had one more view of the beautiful scenery of Ber- 
wick-upon-Tweed. I went one morning across the 
river to see them fish for salmon. Berwick is, in fact, 
the headquarters of the salmon fishery in this region, 
and derives a great income from it. The salmon used 
formerly to frequent several other rivers here, but they 
have in great measure forsaken all but the Tweed. 
The reason is, that the Tweed and all its branches come 
from a most lovely region of country, on the southern 
border of Scotland, which is of a different mineral 
formation, and has no beds of coal under it. There 
can, therefore, be no manufactories, no mines, no tall 
chimneys, no smoke. It remains, accordingly, a beau- 
tiful rural region, consisting of gardens and fields of 
grain along the streams, and of pastures for sheep and 
cattle on the hill-sides. The rail-roads avoid it, and 
the old abbeys, and churches, and castles remain undis- 
turbed. The air is pure, and tourists flock to it in great 
numbers to see Melrose, and the Yarrow, and Abbots- 
ford. The water, too, is pure and sweet in the river, 
and the salmon go up and down as of old. 

The fortifications which I described above as ex- 
tending on the land side of the town are continued 

L2 



126 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

Steam ferry-boat. The beach. Sea view. 



along the bank of the river, by a plain but substantial 
wall, a short distance from the water. Outside of this 
wall are the quays and wharves. In going to see the 
fishing, I passed this wall by a narrow arch-way, and 
went on toward a rude and primitive sort of wharf, 
where a little steam ferry-boat was to take me across 
the water. The boat was intended for foot passengers 
alone. It was very small, being but about ten feet 
wide. It had no cabin. A boy, with what they call a 
setting-pole, that is, a long pole with an iron point in the 
end, pushed the stern of the boat around in the shallow 
water, so that I could step on board from some steps 
which descended from the wharf, for the tide was low. 
The little engine began its work, and we were soon 
moving swiftly over the smooth and glassy water, in a 
diagonal direction toward the opposite shore. 

We landed upon a long, sloping stone causeway, built 
out into the water ; on leaving which, I found myself 
upon a sandy beach, with great numbers of fishing-boats 
drawn up upon it. I pursued my way eastward, that 
is, toward the sea, as I had seen, while crossing the 
water, that the boats still engaged in fishing were in 
that direction. As I approached the junction of the 
shores of the river and of the sea, the scenery was pic- 
turesque and beautiful in the extreme. There was a 
broad expanse of sandy beach, of a very irregular form, 
and indented by little bays and inlets from the river 
and sea ; the water in these inlets being clear, and the 
bottom covered with pebbles and sand. It was a warm 
summer's morning, and there were little groups and 
parties rambling about the shores, and children every 
where wading in the water. The English coast was 
to be seen stretching away for many miles to the south 



ENTRANCE INTO SCOTLAND. 127 

Setting the nets. Mode of fishing. 

ward, with an outline of iofty cliffs and promontories 
above, and a beautiful beach below. The beach was 
dotted with moving figures as far down the coast as 
the eye could distinguish them. On the river side the 
boats of the fishermen were sleeping upon the water, 
while the fishermen themselves, except two to each net 
to watch, were sleeping more literally, stretched out at 
length upon the sand. 

It seems that, in setting the nets, they begin at the 
shore, strike out a little way into the water, and then 
turning down the stream (I mean the stream of the tide, 
whichever way it may be flowing), they carry the net 
along for the rest of its length parallel with the shore. 
Of course, the lower end of it is at a distance from the 
shore, the opening thus left being intended to admit 
the fish. The net being thus arranged, two boats are 
stationed outside of it, at a distance from each other, 
and the upper edge of the net is held by a man in the 
bows of each boat, raising it for this purpose, at these 
points, a little out of the water ; so that if any fish come 
into the net they can feel them, and give the alarm. 
There is a rope attached to the lower end of the net, 
by which it is to be drawn in to the shore when fish are 
felt. The net is loaded at the lower edge by leaden 
sinkers, and it has cork floats upon its upper edge ; by 
this apparatus it is kept in a perpendicular position in 
the water. The cork floats lie along upon the surface 
of the water like a row of little blocks, and indicate to 
the observer on shore the position of the net. 

The men had been fishing nearly all night, and all 
except the two on the boats at each net were lying, 
tired and sleepy, on the sand. In fact, while the men 
were waiting for fish to come to their net, the whole 



128 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

Scene of quiet and repose. Drawing ia the nets. 

picture was one of stillness and repose. The water | 
was smooth as glass. The little groups wandering | 
about upon the beaches were too remote to be heard, j 
or their voices came to the ear in a very subdued and 
softened tone. There was no surf on the seaward, 
beaches, but only a very gentle dash of water now and 
then from the swell. Across the river we had the 
town of Berwick, with all its walls, and fortifications, 
and towers, extremely varied in their aspects, and re- 
lieved here and there by masses of foliage behind them 
in the city, showing that my statement that there is 
nothing green within the walls must be received with 
some qualification. To the west of the town the soft 
and smooth green hills rose above the highest bastions, 
and to the east was the long mole, or pier, extending 
for half a mile into the sea, and terminated by the light- 
house erected at the further end. 

While seated on a stone upon the beach, admiring 
this scene, you would suddenly hear a cry from one 
of the fishermen standing in the boats. The party of 
sleepers would instantly spring to their feet, and the 
boys among them, seizing stones from the beach, would 
throw them into the water at the place between the 
lower end of the net and the shore, to frighten the fish 
from any attempt to escape by the way that they had 
entered. In the mean time, the men, putting the line 
over their shoulders, walked laboriously up the sandy 
slope, to draw the net in. The result would be some- 
times a few salmon, and sometimes nothing at all. The 
net would then be stacked up again upon the stern of 
the boat in such a manner that, in rowing along upon 
the water where they wished to set it, it would draw 
itself off as the boat proceeded, and thus deposit itsell 



ENTRANCE INTO SCOTLAND. 129 

Departure for Edinburgh. Rail-way along the cliflfs. Views. 

properly in the water for a new trial. The fishermen 
would then return again to their positions of repose upon 
the sand, as before. 



After spending a day or two thus in Berwick-upon- 
Tweed, I set out for Edinburgh. The shores of the 
sea, north of Berwick, are bold and picturesque, and 
the great Northern rail-way runs very near to them. 
After passing for a short distance through a beautiful 
rural district, we come out at once to a splendid view 
of the sea, from the summit of a range of cliffs a hund- 
red feet high. These cliffs are the termination, toward 
the sea, of a beautiful region of elevated but level larid, 
lying north of the Tweed, and called The Merse. It 
is extremely fertile, and is cultivated every where like 
a garden. It continues its smooth and beautiful sur- 
face to the sea, where it is bounded by the cliffs, which 
form the shore. Deep chasms and ravines indent these 
cliffs, and promontories project from them, so as to give 
every variety to their forms ; and the rail-way passes 
along the shore so near that it would seem to have 
been the special design of the engineer to secure to the 
travelers all the magnificence of the view. From our 
seats in the cars we have the smooth and richly-culti- 
vated fields on one side, waving with grass or grain ; 
and on the other we look down upon the ocean, lying 
at a great depth below us, and spreading away to a 
very distant horizon. The road is made so near the 
brink of the cliffs as just to go clear of the chasms and 
indentations which we look down into as we whirl rap- 
idly by. At one moment we see a narrow cove, far 
below, with a boat drawn up upon a sandy beach ; a 
moment afterward we pass a rugged and precipitous 



130 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

Imposing scenes. Scotland. 

chasm., with the surf dashing upon the rocks at the en- 
trance of it. Then, perhaps, we conne into the view 
of a wider bay, with a winding shore and beach, term- 
inated at the further end by a bold, rocky cliff, with 
sea-birds sailing about it. The great elevation from 
which we looked down upon these scenes as we went 
on our journey, and the rapid motion by which we flew 
along, made the effect extremely imposing. We soon 
left Berwick far behind us, and found that we had fully 
and fairly entered Scotland. 



Arthur's seat. 131 



Edinburgh. Prince's-atreet. The valley. 



LETTER VII. 

Arthur's seat at Edinburgh. 

August 16. 

It is less difficult to form some distinct conception of 
Edinburgh than of most other cities, without having 
seen it, on account of its being so strongly marked in 
position and character. You must, at the outset, im- 
agine a modern-built, handsome city, on level ground 
on one side, and an ancient and venerable one on a 
long and elevated ridge on the other, with a deep glen 
or valley between them, and high hills and mountains 
around. The new town is on the north ; the old 
town toward the south. The valley, of course, runs 
nearly east and west. 

Of course, the southernmost street of the new town 
runs along on the brink of the valley. This is Prince's- 
street, the great street in Edinburgh, and, on many ac- 
counts, one of the most picturesque and striking streets 
in the world. On one side of it are handsome shops, 
hotels, and public edifices, constructed of stone, and in 
the most substantial and elegant manner ; on the other 
side is a broad side- walk, with a lofty iron palisade, sep- 
arating it from the valley. 

The valley itself presents a very picturesque appear- 
ance, the view being varied by the several structures 
connected with it, or rising out of it. At the east end 
is a bridge passing over it, and connecting the new 
town with the old. This bridge, however, is nearly 
concealed from view, being almost surrounded and cov- 
ered with stately edifices, which form a sort of archi- 
tectural isthmus, connecting the two masses of build- 



IS'k) SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

Scott's monument. Imposing edifices. Tiie old town. 

ing on the two sides of the glen. Not very far from 
the bridge, proceeding westward, we come to the 
splendid monument erected to the memory of Walter 
Scott, which stands upon the edge of the valley, on a 
level with Prince's-street, on a foundation raised for 
the purpose. There are one or two other imposing 
public edifices and churches, in similar positions along 
the open side of Prince's-street, which give great effect 
to the view, without, however, at all shutting it in. Be- 
tween these buildings we look down to the great pub- 
lic gardens, and to courts, and streets, and rail-way sta- 
tions, which fill the declivities and bottom of the glen, 
and over them all to the ancient buildings of the old 
town, on the long ridge beyond. They look like a 
range of lofty cliffs, cut perpendicularly into chasms 
and square projections, and, when lighted up at night, 
the effect from Prince's-street is imposing in the ex- 
treme. 

This long ridge, thus covered with ancient and lofty 
edifices, is not level upon the top — I mean in the di- 
rection of its length. It commences at the eastern end, 
on a plain, and rises gradually until it comes to the 
point where the bridge from the new town crosses to 
it, which may be about the middle of its length. From 
this point it continues to rise, and here it first comes 
into view from Prince's-street. As it passes along par- 
allel to Prince's-street, the ridge becomes higher and 
higher, and its sides steeper and steeper, until finally 
it terminates abruptly in a mass of perpendicular prec- 
ipices, with Edinburgh Castle on the top. Of course, 
standing any where in Prince's-street, we have a splen- 
did panorama in view. We have the elegant range of 
buildings, with spires and monumental columns tower- 



Arthur's seat. 133 



Grand panorama. Calton Hill. Salisbury Crags. 

ing above them, behind us ; then we have the valley 
before us, with the few detached public edifices on the 
margin of it, and the imposing range of antique struc- 
tures on the ridge beyond, terminated at one end by 
the bridge, and at the other by the long walls and the 
lofty towers and battlements of the castle. 

The reader, by attentively considering the foregoing 
description, will acquire, in some respects, a more use- 
ful practical idea of the leading features of Edinburgh, 
than by merely inspecting a map ; because a map can 
give no idea of differences of level, on which, in the 
case of such a city as Edinburgh, every thing depends. 
These differences of level give to all the views which 
you have, in rambling about the city, the most striking 
and picturesque effect. And then, besides these remark- 
able features, there are hills just out of the town, from 
which you obtain very extended and diversified pros- 
pects. One is called the Calton Hill. It rises at one 
end of Prince's-street, namely, the eastern end. Its 
lower declivities are ornamented with gardens and ter- 
races, and ranges of beautiful buildings, and its summit 
is covered with monuments of a great variety of form 
and structure, which are, of course, to be seen from all 
parts of Prince's-street, terminating the view in the di- 
rection in which they lie. The other hill is a vast con- 
geries of precipices, glens, and summits, which lies be- 
yond the old town, though it can be seen from most 
parts of Prince's-street, towering above the lofty hous- 
es. The highest summit is called Arthur's Seat. A 
range of cliffs, less elevated, facing the city, is called 
the Salisbury Crags ; and along at the foot of the crags, 
though still at a great elevation above the surrounding 
country, is a broad gravel-walk, often called Scott's 
M 



134 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

A walk. View from the bridge. 

Walk, because it was one of Sir Walter's favorite 
promenades. 

But I shall probably better succeed in giving the 
reader an idea of this scenery by asking him to accom- 
pany me on an excursion, and describing such scenes 
and incidents as really occurred to myself in my ram- 
bles. I set out, then, one evening, with a companion, 
from my hotel in Prince's-street, and went eastward 
along the street, with the monuments of Calton Hill be- 
fore me at the extremity of it. After proceeding a few 
steps in this direction, we came to the bridge, which, 
here turns off toward the old town. Coaches were 
standing at the corners of the streets, with such names 
as Melrose, Abbottsford, Stirling, and Loch Lomond 
upon them, making us feel at every step that we were! 
really in the heart of Scotland. At the shop windows 
were countless contrivances of jewelry and fancy box- 
es, with the tartan plaid imitated in enamel or lacquered- 
work, and shawls in great variety, each ticketed with 
the name of the clan whose colors it bore. Every 
thing spoke of Scotland. 

At last we came upon the bridge. Looking down 
over the parapet, we could see streets, markets, and 
rail-way lines far below. On the right, Prince's-street 
is seen extending westward, until it is lost in the dis- 
tance ; and on the left the cliff-like range of lofty hous- 
es in the old town, rising higher and higher toward the 
west, until they terminate in the towers and battlements 
of the castle. 

_ The reader will recollect that the crest of the ridge 
on which the old town is chiefly built is not level, but 
ascends gradually from the east until we reach the 
castle, where it terminates in abrupt precipices. Now 



Arthur's seat. 135 



High-street. Canongate. Market-day. 

there lies along this crest a street, which is, in fact, the 
principal one in the old town. From it narrow lanes, 
and passages, and stair-ways lead down the slopes on 
each side to the valleys. This street is called the 
High Street at the upper part, and the Canongate at 
the lower. It is one of the most remarkable thorough- 
fares in Europe. The buildings bordering it are very 
lofty, and as they extend down the slopes on each side, 
being accessible there by the narrow passages and 
stair-ways I have already referred to, and as they are 
all densely peopled, and, moreover, as all the thousands 
of men, women, and children who occupy them seem 
to pour into the High Street for a lounge and prome- 
nade every pleasant evening, the spectacle which 
strikes the eye of the traveler, when he first comes 
into it from Bridge-street, is truly astonishing. The 
evening of our walk it was fuller than usual, it having 
been market-day, and the whole space between the 
walls of the houses on each side, both pavement and 
side-walk, was one dense mass of human beings, all in 
the very humblest rank of life, and exhibiting every 
possible phase of raggedness and poverty, and yet all 
occupied, interested, and apparently happy. The chil- 
dren were ragged and dirty in the extreme, but alto- 
gether too plump and merry to be pitied. 

We might have turned up the street toward the cas- 
tle, but the way to Arthur's Seat was in the other di- 
rection, and led us down the street, which became more 
narrow, more ancient and blackened by time, and low- 
er and more degraded in population as we descended. 
At last, however, as we approached the end, the scene 
seemed to change again. The crowds of people di- 
minished. The houses, though they continued to look 



136 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

A change in the scene. Holyrood. Rural picture. 

old and venerable, were more neat. The streets and 
passages seemed to have a more quiet air, and began, 
in fact, to look almost deserted, when suddenly, at a 
little turn at the foot of the hill, we came to a broad, 
level, and paved area, on the opposite side of which a 
spacious building rose before us. It had round towers 
at the corners, and a broad architectural front, with a 
soldier in uniform walking to and fro before a great 
gate-way in the middle. It was the palace of Holy- 
rood House, the residence of Mary Queen of Scots. 

In fact, the whole scene was now entirely changed. 
We had before us, and around us on every side, aa 
enchanting picture of rural beauty. The palace is sit- 
uated in the midst of parks, intersected in every direct 
tion by gravel-walks, and ornamented with groves of 
trees. Immediately in the rear of the palace is a beau- 
tiful garden, inclosed with a high iron palisade. With- 
in this garden are the ruins of the old abbey, now roof- 
less and falling. Hundreds were walking to and fro 
along the gravel-walks, or reclining upon the grass, 
giving to the whole scene an air of great animation. 

But the most imposing part of the view, after all, was 
the mountain mass which rose from the plain at a little^ 
distance. Its slopes were beautifully green. Scott's 
Walk could be traced for a long distance under the 
crags, with parties of ladies and gentlemen here and 
there ascending and descending. Above this walk 
were the cliffs, and the lofty peak, called Arthur's Seat, 
towered above the whole. Between them were vales 
and dells, and grassy slopes, of the softest and most 
beautiful green, dotted every where with figures, sit- 
ting, walking, climbing — in a word, in every attitude 
of motion and of repose. 



Arthur's seat. 137 



Choice of routes. Salisbury Crags. Arthur's Seat. St. Anthony's Chapel. 

There is a great variety of route offered to the choice 
of the promenader in looking up the ascents before him. 
He can take Scott's Walk, and have a good road, and 
a regular, though steep ascent ; and he will enjoy, from 
the higher parts of the walk, a magnificent prospect of 
the city and of the surrounding country in one direction. 
Of course, his view in the other will be cut off by the 
crags which tower perpendicularly behind him. Or, 
by going a little further back, and taking a more cir- 
cuitous and rougher path, he may mount to the crest 
of these crags, and look down upon the smooth walk, 
a hundred feet below him. In this case his view will 
be far more extended, but it will not be entirely unob- 
structed, as Arthur's Seat rises higher still further be- 
hind, though there is a broad and deep valley between. 
Or, thirdly, he may undertake to scale Arthur's Seat 
itself, which is hard climbing, but there is presented 
from its rocky summit an entirely unobstructed view.* 

In one part of these hills, a little out of either of the 
routes I have described, is an old ruin called St. An- 
thony's Chapel, which the visitors to these scenes gen- 
erally turn aside to see. There is also, in the path-way 
leading to Arthur's Seat, near this chapel, a little spring, 
where three or four boys and girls usually stand with 
tin mugs, and come running down the hill with their 
mugs full of water, to offer to any parties whom they 
see approaching having the air of strangei's. For this 
service they expect a penny. 

I went to this spring one evening when these children 
were gone. There was a large, roundish stone, such 
as the geologists call a boulder, in the path, and below 

* There is a view of the scenery here described in the back-ground of the 
engi'aving of Holyrood, in the next letter. 

M2 



138 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

The spring. Talking Scotch. Wild scene. 

it a smaller, flattish stone, in which a small bowl-shaped 
reservoir had been hewn to receive and hold the water. 
Another stone, a little upon one side, was of the right 
size, and in the right place, to serve for a rude seat. A 
path-way branched off from the spring to the ruins of 
the chapel, and another, better worn, led up a sort of 
ravine, in the direction of Arthur's Seat. On all the 
paths, and upon every rock and cliff around, figures 
could be seen of persons walking, climbing, or at rest, 
enjoying the evening air. 

Sometimes you arrive here later in the evening, when 
the children who supply the visitors have gone. You 
then meet others, a barefooted old woman, perhaps, 
from the High Street, or a child from the Canongate, 
who have come for water to carry home. The child 
brings two tin pails, and dips up the water from the 
reservoir with the covers. She talks broad Scotch to 
you, in answer to your questions. You tell her it is a 
great way for her to come for water, and she replies, 
" Ay, sir ; and I ha' been here ance afore the day." 
She lives, she says, "just yonder in the Canongate, 
with her grandmither ;" and goes to school, where she 
learns " to read and count." She will give you a drink 
of the water from her tin cover, and thank you very 
cordially if you give her a ha'penny in return. 

In ascending from this point, we see before us a wild 
scene of hills and glens, with rocky summits and ranges 
of cliffs here and there, giving a very varied and pic- 
turesque expression to the whole. The views in every 
direction among these glens are very striking to Amer- 
ican eyes, the valleys and slopes are so exceedingly 
smooth and green. Wild territory like this in our 
country is wooded, and covered with loose stones, and 



Arthur's seat. 139 



Green valleys and elopes. Hard climbing. 

rough and ragged irregularities. But these declivities 
have been in the possession of man for a thousand 
years, and have become as smooth, at least in appear- 
ance, as seen from the various eminences, as a lawn. 
Sheep paths traverse them in all directions, enticing 
adventurous climbers into various situations of diffi- 
culty and danger, where sometimes it is equally im- 
practicable to advance or retreat. I attempted the as- 
cent one evening at sunset with a lady, who, having 
just returned from Switzerland and Italy, where she 
had been scaling the Alps and Vesuvius, was a good 
climber. We would attempt a path ascending diag- 
onally up a very steep slope, two or three hundred feet 
high. We could go on very easily until we had at- 
tained an elevation of a few hundred feet, but after 
that, as we proceeded, the depth below us began to look 
very profound. We had only a very narrow path, 
growing, too, continually narrower as we advanced. 
The slope below us, down which we every moment 
were threatened with sliding, had nothing to intercept 
our descent to the bottom of the valley. Above us the 
same slope extended for the same distance, until it was 
terminated by a range of ragged cliffs, which frowned 
upon us very sternly, and seemed to make it very 
doubtful whether we could find our way out to the top, 
if we should succeed in gaining the summit of the slope. 
After pausing here in uncertainty for a few moments, 
we would retrace our steps until we had found some 
place of greater security, and then, diverging to some 
new point of departure, we would make a new attempt 
in a different direction. All this time the whole scene 
around us was dotted with other parties making similar 
attempts. We could see them at a great distance, 



140 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

The bagpipes. The blue bell. The mountain daiay. 

slowly creeping along a path, or scrambling down 
what seemed to us a perpendicular precipice, or sitting 
on the rocks to I'est from their previous toil. During 
all this time the evening air was filled with distant mar- 
tial music. It came to us from a piper across the 
widest valley ; but the question which, of several black 
points moving slowly along the grass there, was the 
piper, the distance was too great for us to determine. 
The music of the Scotch bagpipes is too loud and me~ 
tallic to be pleasant when near, but when heard in the 
evening, from a distance, across a wide glen, especially 
if it be a Scottish glen, the effect is very agreeable. 

After various attempts of the kind I have described, 
in paths of our own selection, we at length so far suc- 
ceeded as to obtain the main route half way up to the- 
summit. This route, which we now thought it most 
prudent to follow, led us around upon the back side of 
the principal hill, where we had views of new glens, 
new precipices, and new vistas of the cultivated low- 
lands and seas far beneath us. There were plenty of 
wild flowers. Every crag was ornamented with the 
*' Blue Bells of Scotland." There was a small, deli- 
cate daisy too, which I did not pay particular attention 
to at the time, but which was brought to my recollec- 
tion the next day under these circumstances : I went, 
in company with a gentleman of Boston, into the libra- 
ry-room of the University, a spacious and magnificent 
hall, containing a hundred and twenty thousand vol- 
umes. At the upper end was Flaxman's statue of 
Burns. It was a beautiful embodiment of Burns's mind 
and character : the rustic expression of the plow-boy 
in the dress, and all the simplicity, beauty, and soul of 
the poet in the countenance. As we took our seats in 



I 



Arthur's seat. 141 



Statue of Burns. His lines to the mountain daisy. 

chairs, which the attendant placed for us at the best 
points of view, my companion, looking at the express- 
ive form before me, asked me if I remembered Burns's 
lines to the mountain daisy ; I did not, though I im- 
mediately remembered the mountain daisy itself, which 
I had seen upon these hills the day before. He began 
to repeat to me the following lines, very characteristic 
of Burns, and admirably in keeping with the expression- 
of the statue. I listened to them with a mingled feel- 
ing of interest in their beauty, and of surprise that a 
mind which had been so engrossed, during a long life, 
with public duties and cares of a high and responsible 
character, could still have room for such kind of treas- 
ures as this among its stores. To perceive the force 
and beauty of the lines, they must be read aloud, and 
the words enunciated in the most distinct and delib- 
erate manner. 

TO A MOUNTAIN DAISY. 
Wee, modest, crimson tipped flower, 
Thou'st met me in an evil hour, 
For I maun crush amang the stoure* 

Thy slender stem : 
To spare thee now is past my pow'r, 

My bonnie gem. 

Cauld blew the bitter-biting north 
Upon thy early, humble birth ; 
Yet cheerfully thou glintedt forth 

Amid the storm, 
Scarce rear'd above thy parent earth 

Thy tender fonn. 

The flaunting flow'rs our gardens yield, 
High sheltering woods and wa's maun shield. 
But thou beneath the random bieldt 

O' clod or stane, 
Adorns the histie§ stihble-Jield, 

Unseen, alane. 

* Stoure, dust in motion, t Glinted, peeped. | Bield, shelter. § Histie, dry. 



142 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 



Bums's lines to the mountain daisy. Summit of the hill. 

There in thy scanty mantle clad, 
Thy snawy bosom sunward spread. 
Thou lifts thy unassuming head 

In humble guise ; 
But now the share uptears thy bed, 

And low thou lies. 

Such is the fate of artless maid, 
Sweet flowret of the rural shade! 
By love's simplicity betrayed. 

And guileless trust ; 
Till she, like tliee, all soil'd is laid 

Low i' the dust. 
Such is the fate of simple bard. 
On life's rough ocean luckless starred! 
Unskillful he to note the card* 

Of prudent lore. 
The billows rage, and gales blow hard, 

And whelm him o'er. 

Such fate of svffering worth is giv'n, 

Who long with wants and woes has striv'u, 

By human pride or cunning driv'n 

To mis'ry's brink; 
Till wrenched of every stay but Heav'n, 

He, ruin'd, sink ! 
Even thou who mourn'st the Daisy's fate, 
That fate is thine — no distant date ; 
Stern ruin's plowshare drives, elate, 

Full on thy bloom. 
Till, crashed beneath the furrow's weight, 

Shall be thy doom. 

But to return to our excursion. The summit of the 
hill is a conical peak, with steep grass slopes on one 
side, and rocky precipices, nearly perpendicular, on the 
other. The road leads up on the grassy side by means 
of rude steps, worn, apparently, by the feet of a con- 
tinued train of visitors. At the top is a small level area, 
blackened by the effects of a great bonfire made here 
several years ago, to celebrate the landing of Victoria 

* Card. — Referring to the compass card, on which the points of the compass are 
marked to guide the helmsman. 



Arthur's seat. 143 



Jeanie Deans's cottage. Libberton. 

on a visit to Scotland. Around this area are several 
crests of rock, rising a few feet above it, on the high- 
est of which a small post is set, supported by iron bra- 
ces. We took our seats on the brow of the hill, where 
there was a little shelter from the wind, which, as usual 
on such peaks, blew strong and cool. After a few mo- 
ments a lad approached us, and, in a very respectful 
manner, said, pointing down to the plain below, 

" Wad the ladie like to see Jeanie Deans's cottage, 
which is described in Walter Scott's novel of the Heart 
of Mid Lothian ? Yon is it — the double cottage, by the 
roadside, with the tiled roof." 

We looked in the direction he indicated. There were 
several smooth gravel-roads winding around the base 
of the mountain, parallel to each other, and with soft 
green slopes between them. At one place among these 
roads we saw a simple cottage, or, rather, two cot- 
tages together, with red tiles upon the roof, and a 
small, square garden, inclosed by a hedge, behind it ; 
that is, behind it in respect to the road, which was be- 
yond the cottage, but on this side of it as it respected us. 

"And there," said he, pointing to a little group of 
buildings further along the road, and a little more to- 
ward the city, " is the house of the Laird of Dumbie 
Dykes. The village yonder" — here he pointed in an 
opposite direction, to a place a mile or two distant in 
the country, the surface of which all appeared, from 
this point, like a most rich and fertile plain, divided by 
hedgerows and lines of plantation, and sprinkled every 
where with hamlets, and villages, and beautiful coun- 
try seats — '* Yon village," said he, " with the old square 
tower among the trees, is Libberton, where Reuben 
Butler lived, who was engaged to be married to Jean 



144 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

Interesting localities. Scotch guides. 

ie." Then, turning to the city, which lay spread out, 
or rather piled up, before us, " The old Tolbooth," he 
continued, " or the Heart of Mid Lothian, as it was 
called, was there, near that low steeple in the High 
Street. This broad water at the north is the Frith of 
Forth. The large island in the middle of it is Inch 
Keith, with the light-house upon it. This town upon, « 
the shore is Leith, a mile and a half from Edinburgh jf| 
and that is Leith Pier which ye see extending out into 
the water. Those hills to the south are the Pentland 
Hills, and that high land, further east, is the Lammer- 
muir, the scene of Sir Walter Scott's novel of th< 
Bride of Lammermuir." 

All this, and a great deal more, in answer to our va- 
rious inquiries, was said by our informant, in a very 
pleasant Scotch tone, but in good English words. It 
was a striking tribute to the universality of the inter 
est which Scott's genius has awakened in the human 
mind, that these guides may always safely infer tha 
whoever comes to the top of Arthur's Seat, from what 
nation or land soever, the surest way to interest them 
and establish a claim upon them for a little fee, is to" 
pass by the palaces, castles, towns, churches, abbeys, 
and all other objects of magnificence and splendor, and 
show them, first of all, where to look for Jeanie Deans's 
cottage. If he had begun by telling us about the pal- 
ace of Holyrood House, or Stirling Castle in the dis- 
tance, at the north, we should have declined his assist- 
ance, and saved a shilling. But " Wad the ladie like 
to see Jeanie Deans's cottage ? Yon is it, by the road- 
side," was irresistible. We were, however, very much 
pleased with our young guide, and got him to show us 
down the hill by circuitous and precipitous paths, in a 



ARTHUR 3 SEAT. 145 



The Scotch dialect. St. Anthony's Well. 

quarter wihch we had not before explored, and at length 
parted with him at the bottom of the hill. 

In fact, there is a charm about the Scotch dialect to 
one who, after having been from childhood accustomed 
to it, in reading and hearing read the writings of Burns 
and Scott, now for the first time listens to it in real life, 
which makes you glad to stop and talk with any one 
who uses it, whether what they are saying is of any 
importance or not. I always stopped at the spring, 
going and coming, to have a little talk with the chil- 
dren there ; and a few half pence distributed among 
them always seemed to make the interview as pleas- 
ant on their part as it was on mine. One evening, ih 
going up, I heedlessly distributed in this manner all 
the half pence I had. On returning, at the close of the 
twilight, one little boy and his sister were there alone, 
waiting in the hope of getting one half penny more 
from some lingering wanderer like myself. The boy 
met me some way up the path, with his " Wad ye like 
a little water, sir, fra the spring ?" 

" Yes." I was thirsty and wanted some water ; but 
I did not wish to take it from his mug without giving 
him his halfpenny. Besides, I had a quaich in my pock- 
et, which I had purchased that day for a souvenir of 
Scotland, and I wished to introduce it to its function 
by using it first at St. Anthony's Well. 

A quaich is a cup peculiar to Scotland, used by 
hunters and pedestrian travelers. It has a flat handle 
on each side, so that one person, dipping up water with 
it from a spring by one handle, his companion, standing 
by, may conveniently take it by the other. They are 
made of various materials ; some of horn, some of wood, 
some of silver, of plain or of ornamental workmanship. 

N 



146 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

The quaich. Children at the well. 

I saw some made of a beautiful wood, which they said 
was Queen Mary's yew, a tree which she planted in 
her garden at Holyrood. Others are of oak, from the 
beams of the old Heart of Mid Lothian, saved when the 
building was taken down. Both of these kinds were 
mounted and tipped with silver. I had obtained one 
of these quaichs made of horn, when in Scotland be- 
fore, and it had been for many years my constant 
companion in rural excursions and summer journeys, 
until it was worn out in the service. But it had been 
at once so useful, and so pleasant a memorial of ScoU 
land, that I determined to replace it by one of a more 
permanent material ; and, after examining a great many 
in the various shops, I had at last made my selection, 
and was to use it now for the first time. 




So I told the little water-bearer who came up the hill 
to meet me, that I had given away all my half pence 
in coming up the hill, and that, besides, I had a quaich 
to drink from in my pocket. When I came down to 
the spring, I talked some time with him and with the 
little girl, who afterward proved to be his sister. She 
corrected herself sometimes in her Scotch, turning it 
into English for my accommodation ; as, for example, 
translating " I dinna ken," into " I don't know." I found 
they had earned " three pence ha'penny" by their at- 
tendance at the spring that afternoon, and I finally 



athur's seat. 147 



How to settle a difficulty. Nothing lost by civility. 

settled the difficulty of not being able to pay them, by 
giving them a silver sixpence and taking all their cop- 
per in exchange. They received it very joyfully, 
though they were very particular to have it understood 
that they did not exact any pay. " Didna I tell ye, 
sir," said the boy, " that ye suld be welcome to the 
drink without ony ha'pence ?" This, in fact, he had 
done up the path, as the little rogues always do, know- 
ing well that they lose nothing by civility. 



148 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

Visitors to Holyrood. Position of tlie palace. 



LETTER VIII. 

HOLYROOD. 

August 16. 

Queen Mary's bed-room, in Holyrood House, is, to 
a great many persons, tiie most interesting place that 
they visit in Scotland ; and scenes and places most in- 
teresting to be visited are very often the least interest- 
ing to be described. Notwithstanding this ground of 
discouragement, I will endeavor to convey to the read- 
er some idea of the scene which presents itself to the 
tourist in entering these ancient rooms. 

It will be recollected that the palace is at the foot of 
the High Street, as the castle is at the head. In going 
to either, you cross the bridge which leads from the 
new town to the old, and then, ascending Bridge-street, 
you turn to the left down the High Street, in the oppo- 
site direction to the one leading to the castle. I have 
made several visits to these rooms. In the one I am 
about to describe I was alone. On reaching the bot- 
tom of the High Street, or, rather, of the Canongate, 
which is the name given to the lower part of the High 
Street, I emerged into a broad, paved square, with 
the front of the palace on the further side of it. On 
the right was a fine view of Arthur's Seat and Salis- 
bury Crags, with a broad park intervening. On the 
left were old walls and buildings, forming a part of the 
city extending toward the Calton Hill. 

If the reader wishes to form an accurate conception 
of the locality of Mary's rooms, let him consider care- 
fully the following description, from which, I think, he 
will be able to identify the windows of her apartments 




''\.\^>sj^ ll^N 



HOLYROOD. 151 



Mary's rooms. The Royal Chapel. 



in any engraving of the palace. The front toward the 
city, that is, the front which is presented to view as 
we come out upon the open area, above referred to, in 
descending the High Street, has two square towers 
projecting forward at the two corners. Of course, the 
space between these projections forms a sort of recess, 
in the middle of which is a great arched door-way, by 
which we can gain entrance into the palace when the 
ponderous gates are open. 

These two towers, which project thus at the extreme 
right and left of the front of the palace, are not per- 
fectly square. Their general form is that of a square ; 
but there are round towers at the corners of them, or, 
rather, rounded projections, large enough to contain 
small rooms, which are accessible from the larger rooms 
in the body of the tower. Mary's rooms were on the 
second story, and were situated as above described. 
Her bed-room was in the body of the tower, with an- 
other larger room, an ante-room, behind it. She had 
a little dressing-room in one of the round towers ; the 
inner one, that is, the one toward the main entrance of 
the castle ; and in the outer one she had a little private 
room, where she was at supper with Rizzio when he 
was murdered. These rooms, in which every thing 
remains as it was in Mary's day, constitute the great 
point of attraction at Holyrood House. 

There are, however, two other objects of attraction. 
One is the ruins of the Royal Chapel, which was orig- 
inally built with great magnificence, but is now roof- 
less and desolate. It is in the rear of the palace, and 
projects to the northward so as to be connected with 
it by only one corner, where there was a private stair- 
case which led up through the northern wall of the 



152 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 



Charles X. Arch-way. 



building to Mary's apartments. This chapel, though 
now in ruins, contains many memorials of its former 
elegance and grandeur. 

The other source of attraction in the edifice is the suite j 
of rooms occupied by Charles X. of France, who was] 
expelled from that country by the famous revolution' 
of July, in 1830, by which Louis Philippe was placed 
upon the throne. Charles X. occupied a range of apart- 
ments on the opposite side, diagonally from the tower] 
in which Mary's apartments were situated. Thesej 
apartments are all nearly alike. The beds remain, and! 
some old-fashioned furniture. The floors are bare, and^ 
the whole scene has a deserted and desolate appear- 
ance. They are of no interest to any one who has 
seen how such suites of rooms are ordinarily arranged 
in European palaces, except as the place where an un- 
happy monarch and his family wore away the years 
of their exile. 

And now to return to the great square in front of 
the palace. Soldiers were walking pompously to and 
fro before the great door. At a little distance outside 
of them, two or three carriages, belonging to parties of 
visitors, were standing in the square, with coachmen 
and footmen in livery. I passed by the soldiers, and 
entered by the great arch-way, which conducted me 
quite through the front of the edifice into an inner court, 
which was surrounded by the buildings of the palace. 
Here was a piazza, covering a broad, paved walk, which 
extended entirely around this inner court. I was met 
under this piazza by an agreeable-looking young wom- 
an with her bonnet on. It is a curious example, by- 
the-way, of the changes which the laws of propriety 
undergo, in different latitudes, that in Scotland it would 



HOLYROOD. 153 



Bonnets. Stair-sase. Gallery of portraits. 

not be proper for a young woman, of this rank in life, to 
appear without a bonnet in any situation which is at all 
of a public character. They wear bonnets when at- 
tending behind the counter in a shop. In France it 
would not be proper, that is, it would be presumptu- 
ous for her to wear one at all, even in the street. Thus 
in Edinburgh they are always covered ; in Paris never. 
The young woman asked me if I wished to see the 
apartments, and, on my answering in the affirmative, 
she directed me to a party who were just then going up 
the stair-case, nearest to Mary's rooms. This stair- 
case was contained in a third round tower, back of the 
one containing Mary's little supper-room, half way 
between it and the front of the chapel. The party had 
been to visit the chapel itself, and were returning along 
the piazza, inside the court, when I entered. I follow- 
ed them up the stair-case, but, instead of entering at 
first into Queen Mary's rooms, we turned the other 
way, and entered a very spacious hall, which occupies 
the whole length and breadth of the building on that 
side of the court, extending back from the tower con- 
taining Queen Mary's apartments to the chapel. The 
floor of the hall was bare, the ceiling lofty. The walls 
were of oak wainscoting, with windows only upon 
one side, toward the inner court. On the opposite side 
was a range of very large panels, with smaller ones 
between. Each large panel was occupied by a full- 
length portrait of a Scottish monarch, comprising on 
one side and one end the whole Stuart dynasty. These 
portraits are of full length, and each dressed in the full 
regal costume of the day to which it pertained. The 
paintings are old, and darkened by time. The smaller 
panels are likewise filled with paintings, heads and 



154 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

Maria Stewartus. Solitude. 

half lengths only, portraits of the distinguished men ot 
the several reigns. The respectable-looking woman 
who guided us through this gallery gave the names or 
the kings, successively, as we walked along, and now 
and then some particular of the life or character ot 
each ; but all the interest of the whole collection, for 
most eyes, as I should judge, from observation of some 
hundreds of visitors whom I have seen pass down the 
hall, is concentrated in the three middle paintings of 
the row, Queen Mary herself, preceded by James V., 
her father, and followed by James VI., her son. Though 
Mary's portrait is old, and darkened like the rest, the 
bloom and beauty of the original beam out still, iri 
strong contrast with the warlike aspect and armor o 
the fierce soldiers who precede and follow her. Hers, 
too, is the only female face in the line ; and the most 
careless saunterers through the gallery always pause 
a moment thoughtfully before the portrait of the queen. 
It is inscribed, in ancient letters, Maria Stewartus. 

At the end of the gallery the party which I had fallen 
into were ushered through a door turning to the right, 
which was to conduct them to the apartments occupied 
by Charles X. As I had seen these apartments before, 
I told the guide I would remain in the gallery until she 
returned. They accordingly went away, the door 
closed after them, and I remained in the great hall 
alone. There was no furniture of any kind, except a 
row of plain benches, covered with red cloth, which 
were placed against the sides of the room all around. 
I took my seat upon the bench which was opposite to 
the portrait of Mary. After the sound of one or two 
distant doors, sending a reverberation by their shutting 
along the palace walls, ceased to be heard, all was still. 



I 



HOLYROOD. 155 



James V. Mary. James VI. 

Every thing around me spoke of ancient times ; and 
there was nothing to dispel the illusion by which, in 
such a situation, one forgets the present and throws 
himself back into the past, when he is isolated entirely 
from the one and wholly surrounded by memorials of 
the other. 

There seemed to be concentrated a long period of 
history in the three portraits before me. James V., 
Mary's father, was at war with England at the time 
of her birth ; and, unhappily, had a quarrel with his 
own nobles at the same time. He was perplexed, dis- 
tracted, and in despair at the difficulties of his situa- 
tion. Finally, he organized an army, his nobles joining, 
with him for the purpose ; and, as he had not confidence 
enough in them to intrust any of them with the com- 
mand, he appointed one of his own personal favorites to 
lead them. This threw his whole force into confusion. 
The English attacked and routed them with a very 
small force, and the poor king fell into a state of ex- 
treme melancholy and depression, and died most wretch- 
edly. He was dying in this state when Mary was 
born. 

Of course, the queen before me, in the range of paint- 
ings, was an infant when the original of the portrait 
preceding her ceased to exist. Mary was queen when 
she was but a few days old. I had her before me in 
the bloom of womanhood, as she appeared probably 
about the time that her son was born. That son came 
next in the panels ; not as an infant, however, but in 
full maturity, his countenance marked by years and 
care. This was the James who became King of En- 
gland as well as Scotland on the death of Elizabeth, he 
being the next heir. In him, accordingly, the English 



156 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

Union of crowns. The ante-room. Furniture. 

and Scotch crowns were united, though the kingdoms 
remained separate for some time afterward, each hav- 
ing its own parliament and making its own laws. As 
there had been no James before among the English 
kings, he was James /. of England, though James VI. 
of Scotland, and is generally designated in history by 
this double name. The union of the Scotch and En- 
glish crowns which took place in him is a great epoch 
in the history of Great Britain. 

The party returned from exploring the apartments 
of Charles X. much sooner than I wished to see them, 
and we began to ascend together a winding stair in 
the round tower which I have before alluded to. The 
stair-case was lighted by very narrow loopholes cut in 
the walls, which were of great thickness, requiring very 
deep embrasures. After ascending a little way, we 
entered the first of Mary's suite of rooms. It was, of 
course, the back room, or ante-room, referred to in the 
general description of the arrangement of the roomsf 
already given. 

On entering the room, every one is immediatelj' 
struck with the extremely antique expression which 
characterizes the whole aspect of the interior. An old 
bedstead, with curtains and counterpanes discolorea 
and tattered ; ancient-looking pictures, small and great; 
upon the walls and in the recesses of the windows i 
quaint and old-fashioned tables, supporting images and 
ornaments quainter still ; and high-backed chairs, cov 
ered with ancient embroidery, the colors, some fadeq 
and some deepened by the long lapse of years, and all 
looking fragile and ephemeral in the extreme. We 
often see in these old countries relics some centuries 
old, but they are generally in the shape of something 



HOLVROOD. 157 



Mary in France. The grate. 

substantial, which might have been expected to have 
survived the ravages of time. Old oaken carvings, 
statues, inscriptions, or sculptured images in stone, meet 
us every where among ancient ruins. But the print, 
scarcely framed, which a lady hung up at the window 
of her bed-chamber, her work-basket, her bed, with 
its pillows and its curtains, the cushioned chair in which 
she was accustomed to recline, frail memorials like 
these, which nearly three centuries have done their 
best to consume, constitute a very extraordinary spec- 
tacle. 

By this time there were twenty or thirty persons in 
the room, ladies and gentlemen, the company being 
formed of several parties combined. The conductress 
passed through them to the front, and began pointing 
out the various objects of interest in the room. 

" That grate," said she, " is said to be the first grate 
introduced into Scotland. It was brought with Queen 
Mary when she came from France." 

It will be remembered that Mary was sent to France 
to be educated, when she was very young. She at- 
tracted great attention while there, being universally 
admired for her beauty and accomplishments. She 
married the son of the King of France there, who was 
thus her first husband. He died, and Mary, in the 
midst of her affliction and sorrow, was compelled, by 
political influences, to return to Scotland. She came 
very much against her will ; but queens can seldom 
have their own way. The grate was a large iron one, 
all in ruins. It stood upon the hearth of a great open 
fire-place, the sides lined with glazed tiles and — 

But here my observations of the fire-place were cut 
short by, 

O 



158 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

The double chair. Darnley. Bizzio. 

" These chairs, ladies and gentlemen, were used by- 
Mary herself. That double one was for herself and 
Lord Darnley, as you see by the inscriptions upon it." 

It was a large arm-chair, wide enough for two per- 
sons to sit in. It had a decayed and old-fashioned, 
rather than antique look, but was evidently intended 
for a splendid throne in its day. It had royal emblems 
embroidered in the covering, and the initials of Mary 
and of Darnley. Lord Darnley was Mary's cousin, 
and he became her husband not long after her return 
from France. At first Mary regarded him with strong 
affection, and was disposed to associate him with her- 
self in the government; and this double throne, as it] 
were, was made under the influence of this regard. 
Her feelings toward him, however, soon changed.,] 
There are two sides to the question of the cause of the 
change. Lord Darnley had a young Italian, almost a 
boy, in fact, in his service, whom Mary subsequently 
made her private secretary. He was a gentle, affec- 
tionate, beautiful boy. Mary became very strongly 
attached to him. He wrote for her ; he taught her 
Italian ; he played to'her, for he was a skillful musician. 
Now one opinion is that this young man — his name was 
David Rizzio — acquired too strong an ascendency over 
Mary's mind, and that either he used this influence him- 
self directly to Lord Darnley's disadvantage, or else 
that, through the natural influence of such an impru- 
dent attachment on the part of a wife, she gi-adually 
lost her regard and affection for her husband. The 
other opinion is, that Lord Darnley lost the love and 
esteem of his wife by his own inherent faults and de- 
ficiencies of character, which gradually revealed them- 
selves after his marriage. At any rate, Darnley and 



HOLYROOD. 1 59 



Embroidered chair. Mary in her execution robes. Her bed-room. 

his friends imbibed the opinion that David Rizzio had 
supplanted him in the affections of the queen, and they 
afterward killed him. 

" And this chair," continued the conductress, point- 
ing to another near the double chair of state, " was em- 
broidered by Mary herself." 

We began to look at the embroidered covering of 
the chair. 

" This picture," resumed the conductress, " is a rep- 
resentation of Mary in her execution robes, as she was 
led out to be beheaded by order of Queen Elizabeth, 
after an imprisonment of eighteen years." 

Thus we passed along from one object to another, 
slowly enough, apparently, to satisfy most of the com- 
pany, but so fast that I remained in the rooms while 
three or four successive parties came and went, before 
I could sufficiently examine them all. .After thus sur- 
veying the ante-room, we went forward through an 
open door, which conducted us into Mary's own bed- 
room. The apartment was not large, and every thing 
had the same darkened and time-worn expression with 
the room which we had just passed through. The bed 
was small and low ; it had four very tall posts, and a 
dark-red canopy above. There was a certain elab- 
orate workmanship about the coverings and curtains 
which indicated that it was intended to be somewhat 
magnificent in its time ; but it had nothing of the ele- 
gant splendor in which a royal couch is decked at the 
present day. There were the same frail-looking pic- 
tures hung about the walls, and antique furniture at the 
sides of the room, as in the other apartments. The 
walls themselves were all covered with tapestry : the 
gobelin tapestry, manufactured near Paris. This tap- 



160 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

Engravings. Embroidery. Work-box. 

estry hung like a loose curtain all about the room. 
On raising it, we brought to view the bare, smooth 
stone surface of the wall behind. 

If the reader will call to mind the description I gave i| 
at the outset of the position of this room, he will recol- " 
lect that it occupies the center of one of the projections 
from the front of the building, the ante-room being di- 
rectly behind it. Of course, the ante-room had win- 
dows in the sides, and in the front a door, leading into 
Mary's bed-room. This bed-room itself, however, had 
its window in front, being the middle window in the 
flat part of the projection, and it can probably be identi- 
fied by this description on any view of the palace tc> 
which the reader may have opportunity to refer. Aj 
we advanced to look out at this window, we found, o.' 
course, that it commanded a view of the large, open 
square in front of the palace. As the walls of this part 
of the palace are very thick, the window recess was, 
of course, very deep. The sides of this recess were 
ornamented with engravings and specimens of embroid- 
ery which Mary herself had, perhaps, placed there. 
At one corner of this recess was the queen's work-ta- 
ble ; there was a box upon it, which the conductress 
opened. It was a work-box, spacious, and undoubted- 
ly costly in its time, and enough like the work-boxes of 
the present day to be the type and progenitor of them 
all. There was the glass on the under side of the lid, 
the silk lining now decayed and torn, the pin-cushion 
filling one compartment, and other compartments emp- 
ty, but intended to hold whatever, in those days, took 
the place of the thimble, the emery-bag, and the spool. 
There was in this box a beautiful miniature of Mary 
at the time of her marriage with Lord Darnley. The' 



HOLYROOD. 161 



The portrait. French and English. The dressing-room. 

conductress took this picture out, and hung it upon a 
particular hook in the light of the window for the ad- 
miration of each successive party. The English visit- 
ors looked at it in silence ; the French, of whom a party 
of a dozen came while I was there, filled the air with 
the exclamations, " Ah ! voila la reine .'" ^^ All ! qtCelh 
estjolie." " Elle est Men belle, Louise, rHest ce pas?"* 
There was a broad and shallow, and very delicately- 
constructed basket shown us, which tradition says was 
used by Mary to hold the clothes of her infant son, the 
one who afterward became James I. of England and 
James VI. of Scotland ; and other similar memorials, 
which it was impressive to see, but would be tedious 
to describe. We will, accordingly, pass on into the two 
little rooms before referred to, which, it will be recol- 
lected, are in the round towers, built at the front cor- 
ners of the great square projection, in the body of which 
the ante -room and the bed -room are situated. Of 
course, access to these towers must be obtained in the 
front corners of Mary's bed-room. We advanced first 
into the one on the left hand, that is, on the left hand 
as we approached the front of the room in the inside. 
It would, of course, be in the right-hand tower of the 
left square projection, to any one looking at a view ot 
the building, or at the building itself, in front. The 
room was small — very small and square, notwithstand- 
ing the circular form of the tower on the outside. It 
was the queen's dressing-room. There were some old- 
fashioned, high-backed chairs there, covered with some 
sort of woolen stuff. There were two flower-stands, 
the stems for the support of which were quaint-look- 

* Ab ! here is GLueen Mary ! Ah, how lovely she is ! She is very beau- 
tiful, is not she, Louisa? 

02 



162 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

The cabinet. Private stair-case. Murder of Hizzio. 

in^sr figures, standing upon the heads and shoulders of 
each other in ludicrous attitudes. There was a look- 
ing-glass upon the wall ; it was oval in form, and with- 
out a frame. The back was covered with a metallic 
plate, which was just brought over the edges in front. 
The reflecting powers of the surface were nearly gone. 

We left the dressing-room, and crossed the bed-room 
again toward the door which led into the little cabinet 
in the other tower. Here were two doors, in fact, side 
by side ; one led into the little cabinet ; the other led 
into an opening in the wall, where was the stair-case 
leading down along the whole northern side of the 
building into the chapel : this was the private stair- 
case leading from the chapel to Mary's rooms, which 
has been already alluded to. Of course, the door at 
the head of it not only opened into Mary's bed-cham- 
ber, but it entered there close to the side of the little 
cabinet in the northwestern round tower. 

Lord Darnley and some of his friends formed a se- 
cret plan to assassinate Rizzio one night when he was 
at supper with the queen, with one or two other friends, 
in this little cabinet. They brought an armed force 
into the inner court of the palace ; they crept up the 
private stair-case, a ferocious man named Ruthven at 
their head ; they came out into the bed-room, and some 
of them broke into the cabinet. A horrible scene of 
terror and suffering ensued. Rizzio fled to Mary for 
protection. She did all in her power to protect him, 
but in vain ; they wounded him and dragged him from 
her ; they took him out through her bed-room into the 
ante-room, and here they plunged their daggers into 
him and through him, again and again, committing fifty 
murders on one poor, helpless boy. The conductress 



HOLYROOD. 163 



Rizzio's portrait. Visitors. The chapeL 

took us to the place, and showed us certain dark dis- 
colorations in the floor and in the door-posts, which 
have been shown as the traces of his blood, from the 
time of his assassination to the present day. 

There is a portrait of poor Rizzio hanging up in the 
little cabinet. In looking upon the juvenile beauty of 
his face, every body acquits him of crime. At one vis- 
it, I heard a very inflexible moralist, of the purest Puri- 
tan blood, say he did not blame Mary for loving him. 
On the table, in this little room, or, rather, closet, lies 
the armor which Lord Ruthven wore on the night of 
the assassination : the iron breast-plate, the heavy 
leathern boots, the gauntlets, and other equipments of 
an ancient soldier. The room has never been occupied 
since this terrible assassination took place. Crowds, 
of course, began, immediately after the event, to seek 
admission to the scene of it, and the long train of vis- 
itors has continued, with little interruption, ever since. 
The lapse of three centuries has but increased the num- 
bers who take an interest in these rooms, and deepen- 
ed the emotions with which they regard them. 

I went down to the chapel, and wandered a while 
among the ruined aisles. It is full of tombstones and 
monuments, with inscriptions effaced by time. In one 
corner is a tomb where the Scottish kings were inter- 
red in leaden coffins. In Cromwell's time they wanted 
the lead for bullets, and put the bones upon the shelves 
which the coffins had themselves originally occupied, 
where we now see them by looking through the iron 
grating of the door. I lingered here after the party 
had gone ; and in the interval which elapsed before a 
fresh supply of visitors came, I talked with the con- 
ductress who has charge of this part of the edifice, 



164 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

Conversation with the conductress. Ivy. 

about the duties of her place. She seemed fatigued 
with the incessant calls upon her time and strength 
which the showing of the buildings made. " It is very 
hard work," she said ; " sometimes, too, they go away 
without paying us, and sometimes they laugh at us, and 
that makes us feel discouraged." In return for my ex- 
pressions of sympathy and good- will, she helped me to 
get down some branches of an ivy plant which was 
growing upon the mullions of the eastern window, high 
above my head, and which I told her I should carry 
away as a precious relic. As I came out she showed 
me the entrance to Queen Mary's private stair-case, 
which led, as has been before remarked, from the chapel 
to her bed-room ; and in a narrow passage leading from 
the chapel to the court of the palace, she pointed with 
her foot to one of the stones of the pavement beneath 
which the body of Rizzio was buried. 



"^ 



LINLITHGOW. 165 



Mary, queen of Scots. Situation of Linlithgow. 



LETTER IX. 

LINLITHGOW. 

August 17. 

Mary, queen of Scots, was born in her father's pal- 
ace at Lhilithgow, about twenty miles west of Edin- 
burgh, not very far from the Forth, which here flows 
eastward into the sea. Linlithgow is, however, not 
directly upon the river, but some miles south of it, upon 
the shore of a little pond, or loch, as it is called. The 
pond is about a mile long from east to west, and the 
town is all built upon one street, which runs parallel 
to the shore of the pond, on the southern side, at a little 
distance from the water. Between the village and the 
pond, and about opposite to the middle of it, is a large 
knoll, which projects a little, like a promontory, into the 
water. The palace was built upon this knoll, which 
had a flat surface upon the top of it, of about an acre 
in extent, which the palace and its courts almost en- 
tirely occupied. On the southern edge of it, however, 
where the avenue to the palace ascends from the vil- 
lage, an ancient church was built, which, together with 
the palace, and the walls and gate-ways connected 
with them, form now a venerable pile of ruins, in a ro- 
mantic and beautiful position; and which are visited 
by many travelers, both on account of their intrinsic 
beauty and of their historical interest, more especially 
on account of the circumstance that they contain the 
apartment where poor Queen Mary was born. 

We had learned the above facts from books, and, 
wishing to visit the ruins, we took places in the Edin- 
burgh and Glasgow rail-road train ; and after half an 



166 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

The Btation. The street. Aspect of the town. 

hour's ride from Edinburgh, we were set down at th 
Linlithgow station, our party being left there by the 
train almost in solitude. The station was very near 
the eastern end of the town, and the inn was close to 
the station. If the reader will remember this, and if 
he has observed attentively what was said about the 
relative position of the street and the pond, and more 
especially still, if he will find Linlithgow and its little 
lake upon some map of Scotland, he will be assisted 
to obtain correct ideas of its geographical relations, 
which will enable him to understand, much better 
than he otherwise would do, the description which 
follows. 

When we set forth from our inn to go to visit the 
ruins, we found ourselves in a broad and winding street, 
having an entirely different character and expression 
from those of American towns. There was a Macad- 
amized carriage-way in the center, upon which, how- 
ever, a carriage was very rarely seen. There was a 
very broad paved sidewalk upon each side, bounded 
by rows of stone houses, or, rather, cottages, close upon 
the street, without yards, or any thing green in front 
of them or between them. The street was, in fact, 
perfectly imprisoned between two continuous walls 
formed by the fronts of the houses. The buildings had 
a very venerable appearance, being quaint and antique 
in their forms. Here and there was an ancient-looking 
structure, surmounted by an image of stone, and with 
a small pipe in the side of it, from which water was 
issuing ; and girls were there with their pails to get 
water. Children were playing in the door-ways of 
the houses, and peasant-like looking women were sit- 
ting or standing at the windows, to observe the party 



LINLITHGOW. 167 



The " cross well." The party. Approach to the palace. 

of strangers as they passed. With these and similar 
exceptions, the street was empty and still. 

We walked along, perhaps, to near the middle of the 
street, in respect to its length, when we came to an old 
octagonal structure, with grotesque sculptured figures 
all around it, each spouting water from its mouth, the 
streams being collected below. Here a street branch- 
ed off at right angles, and, turning into it, we found a 
short and gentle ascent, terminated by an ancient gate- 
way, with the lofty walls of the palace rising beyond 
it. We walked up the ascent, and approached the 
great gate-way, where we were received by a very 
respectable-looking woman, who has charge of show- 
ing the place. We met some other visitors here, so 
that our party amounted now to five or six in number. 

We were still outside of the palace, the gate-way 
admitting us only to an inclosure in front of it, or outer 
court, as it might be called. The walls of the palace 
were before us. They were very picturesque in form, 
and covered with the crumbling and mutilated remains 
of ancient sculptures and inscriptions. Weeds and 
briers were growing in the windows and crevices. 
The roofs were gone. The whole had a very sad and 
somber expression, which was increased by the mel- 
ancholy sighing of the wind in the trees, aged and ven- 
erable, which were growing around. Between the 
trees we could see the waters of the little loch and the 
smooth green fields beyond. 

We approached an arched door-way in front of the 
palace. It was closed by great doors, which our at- 
tendant opened. This admitted us into a large square 
court, surrounded by the buildings of the palace. This 
court was covered with a rank growth of grass. A 



168 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

The cou^^yard. Sculptures and inscriptions. Stair-case. 

mass of sculpture in ruins stood in the center, which 
was originally a fountain. A little lamb, as perfect an 
embodiment of youth and beauty as the palace itself 
was of age and decay, was tethered to a little iron stake 
put down in the grass, so that he could feed in a circle 
about it. The lofty and roofless walls rose high all 
around us, the very picture of gloomy grandeur. There 
were inscriptions, and escutcheons, and relievos carved 
upon them every where. There were old niches, 
whose tenants — the images of saints and martyrs — had 
long since tumbled out and disappeared. And there 
were headless trunks, and noseless heads, and frag- 
ments evidently something once, but perfectly shape- 
less now, which were still clinging to their positions ; 
and long grass and tall bushes waved in the wind along 
the tops of the wall. On the whole, it was a scene of 
melancholy desolation, of which they who have not 
seen such ruins can form but a very faint idea. 

At each of the corners of the palace was a large 
tower containing a stair-case, by which access was ob- 
tained to the apartments above. Our conductress led 
the way to one of these, and our whole party began 
to follow, except one gentleman, who, being not fully 
recovered from a recent illness, said he would not at- 
tempt to mount the stairs, but would remain below in 
the court and "talk with the lamb." The good lady, 
then, asking us to wait a moment, produced from some 
unknown quarter an antique chair, which we placed 
for our invalid on the sunny side of the fountain, and 
we then followed our conductress again to the arched 
opening in the tower. We came at once upon an old 
well-worn flight of stone steps, broad, massive, and sol- 
id, which ascended spirally within the tower. After 



LINLITHGOW. 169 



Banqueting hall. Hall of Parliament. 

mounting a while, we crept through an open door-way, 
and found just room to stand upon some little plat- 
forms of stone remaining in window recesses and cor- 
ners, with weeds and grass growing upon them. After 
helping the ladies in — who advanced timidly to so nar- 
row and precarious a footing — we found ourselves in 
a position where we could look up and down between 
the lofty walls, and trace out, by various architectural 
indications, the forms and character of the apartments 
which must have anciently existed there. The roof 
was gone, and so were all the floors ; but we could re- 
place the latter, in imagination, by means of the rows of 
holes where the beams had entered. There were also 
large sculptured fire-places here and there upon the 
walls, and niches, with and without the remains of the 
statues in them. From these and various other marks, 
it was evident that there had been one spacious and 
highly-decorated apartment in this part of the palace. 
Our conductress told us it was the banqueting hall. 

We crept back to our stair-case, and soon found our 
way to another part of the palace where some of the 
floors remained, over which we strolled along through 
corridors and arches, surveying the various apartments 
as our conductress pointed out their uses. One was 
the great hall of Parliament, where the old Scottish 
kings used to summon their counselors together, and 
where, doubtless, there had been held many a stormy 
debate. There were remains of great magnificence 
in the architectural decorations around the doors, win- 
dows, fire-places, and upon the walls. Another apart- 
ment was the kitchen, with a most capacious fire-place 
— perhaps ten feet by six — under the chimney. Here 
we could stand and look up into the enormous flue, 

P 



170 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

Queen Mary's Room. Wall-flower. The loch. 

tapering gradually to a great height, the gray stonei^ 
showing no marks that smoke had ever ascended. 

In this manner we passed along from one old ruined 
hall to another, until we came, at length, to the western 
side of the palace. Here there was an apartment ol 
which the floor was entire, being built of stone, and 
supported by arches. It was covered with grass and 
weeds, and, being open to the sky above, was desolate 
in the extreme. It was the room in which Queen 
Mary was born. Poor Mary ! At the time of her 
birth her father was dying, far away ; so that she be- 
gan, in the very beginning of her life, with that sad se- ' 
ries of calamities and misfortunes which followed her 
to the end. 

We looked about upon the herbage upon the floor 
for some daisies to carry away, as memorials of our 
visit. Our conductress brought us a wall-flower, which 
grew in the crevices between the stones. We went 
to the window where, perhaps, Mary's mother first held 
the infant up to see the light of day, and endeavored 
to awaken its senses to the beauties of the outward 
world. The window commanded a wide prospect of 
the loch, of the village, and of the surrounding country. 
The world must have looked very lovely here to the 
infantile eyes which gazed upon it ; though it clothed 
itself for her, in the end, in such somber colors. 

We had a still better view of the lake, soon after- 
ward, from a sort of bow-window opening from a small 
cabinet, where private interviews were granted by the 
king. The prospect was very lovely, but it had a mourn- 
ful expression. The loch seemed forsaken ; it was very 
small. It would, even in America, have been called 
small as a pond, and a part of its surface was covered 



LINLITHGOW. 171 



Miniature island. Alarmion. Ascent to the top of the wall. 

with aquatic grass and rushes. There were swans 
floating upon the water, and plunging their long necks 
among the sedges. At a little distance from the shore 
was a very small island, covered with willows — so 
small as to seem like a little green tuft growing out of 
the water. On the other side of the loch there were 
smooth green fields, sloping from a gentle elevation 
down to the water's edge, with here and there a foot- 
passenger walking along the shore. It was all beauti- 
ful, well justifying the following lines from Marmion, 
which are copied into all the guide books : 

Of all the palaces so fair, r 

Built for the royal dwelling 
In Scotland, far beyond compare 

Linlithgow is excelling. 
And in its park, in genial June, 
How sweet the merry linnet's tune ; 

How blithe the blackbird's lay ! 
The wild buck bells from thorny brake, 
The coot dives men-y on the lake ; 
The saddest heart might pleasure take 

To see a scene so gay. 

Our conductress next directed us to a stair-case, 
where she said we might ascend to the top of the walls, 
at one corner of the palace, where an ancient watch- 
tower still remained, called Queen Margaret's Bower. 
She herself remained below, and we, after mounting a 
long time, found ourselves upon the top of the main 
walls. Here, though the roofs around us were chiefly 
gone, there were small platforms and ramparts still re- 
maining, which afforded us considerable space for clam- 
bering about. They were, however, all covered with 
vegetation ; grass, and weeds, and briers grew every 
where. I gathered a sprig from a wild rose which I 
found there, waving its tall branches in the wind. 



172 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

Queen Margaret's Bower. Pi 

From one broad platform here, wider thar 
a straight flight of steps led up to the watc.i-tower, 
which was perched on high, and appeared to have a 
very unstable foundation upon such crazy walls, and 
at such a vast height, and especially at a time when, 
as was then the case, a very high wind was blowing. 
There was a modern iron railing on one side of this 
stair-case, and nothing on the other but a fearful pros- 
pect down into the deep and dismal abysses which 
yawned every where around us among the walls of 
the palace. We ascended, however, and entered the 
bower. It was a small hexagonal sentry-box, with a 
stone seat or step all around it inside, and narrow win- 
dows or loop-holes looking out at each of the six faces. 
Here, we were told. Queen Margaret watched for her 
husband coming home from the battle of Flodden. 

This watch-tower, like all the rest of the palace, had 
been mended by the insertion of modern stones, wher- 
ever it could be strengthened and supported by such a 
repair. On one of these stones was cut in letters, so 
sharp and well-defined as to show them to be of very 
recent date. 

His own Queen Margaret, who in Lithgow's bower 
All lonely sat, and wept the weary hour. 

When we came down to the court-yard again we 
found that our invalid friend had disappeared. We 
presently heard his voice on the top of the walls, in the 
opposite quarter from which we had descended. We 
talked with our conductress, until he came down again, 
about the mutilated and crumbling images and inscrip- 
tions about us on the walls, and about her little lamb, 
Prince Charles, sole tenant of the palace. Our party 
was soon all collected again, and we came out through 



LINLITHGOW. 173 

ie iialace. Walk at sunset. 

[.' ^ate-way by which we had entered, leaving 
the tlee ^^.^ prince his palace and his solitude ; — the hum-' 
ble, but beautiful and gentle successor of a long line of 
very rough and restless kings. 

The palace stands upon a little hill, or knoll, between 
the village and the lake, so that in leaving it we make 
quite a descent to return to the town. There is a sim- 
ilar descent on the three other sides toward the water, 
the swell of land being a sort of promontory projecting 
into the lake. The grounds on these three sides are 
varied with terraces and embankments, rounded by 
time, with the remains of old walls peeping through 
them here and there. They are shaded, also, by scat- 
tered trees, ancient and venerable. We returned to 
stroll about these grounds at sunset. Every thing had 
a somber air, exactly in keeping with such a ruin. A 
solemn stillness reigned over the whole scene. The 
green fields beyond the water, though luxuriantly fer- 
tile, seemed deserted and desolate. The swans looked 
lonely on the lake, and the sound of the wind in the 
trees above us had the expression of a mournful sigh. 

Beyond the village on the other side, opposite to the 
palace, the great Edinburgh and Glasgow rail-way 
runs along, thi'ough a region of fields, and groves, and 
modern-built villas. A canal accompanies it, which, 
with its basins of water, its tow-paths and bridges, as- 
sisted to give variety and beauty to the scenery pre- 
sented to view in walking there. There are, however, 
long, high walls and ranges of village buildings which 
intercept the view of these modern works from the pal- 
ace and from the village street. On our return from 
our evening walk to the palace, we went around the 
P2 



174 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

The ruins and the raU-way. A contrast. An ancient church. 

village, and came home along the southern side, be- 
tween the village and the canal. After rambling for 
some time in narrow lanes, among gardens and cottages, 
with now and then a quaint-looking chmxh among them, 
we came to a little bridge, from the top of which we 
could see, on one side, the rail-way and the canal, with 
all the new and modern-looking structures connected 
with them — the gliding boats, the station-houses, the 
lines of telegraphic wires, and the thundering trains of 
cars — and on the other, the ancient village, and beyond 
it the clustered walls, and towers, and spires of the 
palace and church, imbosomed among the ancient 
trees on the borders of the water. How strong was 
the contrast ! The age that is past and the age that 
is to come were visibly embodied before us, side by 
side ; the chivalry, the wars, the superstition, the ro- 
mantic sorrows and sufferings of the one ; the science, 
the energy, the industry, and the comforts and con- 
veniences of the other; and so strong are the illusions 
of the imagination in such a case, that it was hard to 
resist the desire that the rail-way and all its appur- 
tenances might disappear again, and the palace be re- 
stored. 

We remained in Linlithgow over the Sabbath. On 
Monday morning, just before leaving town, I went to 
take a farewell view of the palace. I did not find our 
conductress at her post, but there was a little girl there 
whose province it was to show an ancient church, which 
stands between the palace and the village, where they 
keep a chair that Mary sat in, and the font from which 
she was baptized. I sent this girl to find the keys of 
the palace, and in the mean time I entered the outer 
court-yard and went up to the porch before the main 



LINLITHGOW. 175 



The old soldier. A new guide. 

entrance. This porch, perhaps about fifteen feet square, 
was open in front, the doors by which admission was 
gained into the building being on the back side, in the 
line of the main wall of the palace. An old man, evi- 
dently blind, and apparently insane, was walking to and 
fro, talking to himself inarticulately. I at first thought 
him insane, but there were two children, of very ten- 
der years, seated at the threshold of the porch, very 
near him, and playing together with such an air of 
confidence and safety as seemed to forbid the supposi- 
tion. They were pulverizing little fragments of soft 
stone, using a cavity in the door-sill, worn by footsteps, 
for a mortar, and pebble stones for pestles. I accost- 
ed the children, when the old man immediately stopped 
in his walk, and looked, that is, turned his head, to- 
ward me. I entered into conversation with him, and 
found him not insane, but a sensible old soldier. He 
had lost his eyesight thirty years ago, in campaigns 
against Napoleon in Egypt, " by the opthalmy," as he 
said, a disease which all who have read the histories 
of those campaigns will remember prevailed very 
much among the soldiers while marching over the 
sands of the desert. 

My little messenger at length returned, but without 
the key, as she had not been able to find the woman 
who had it in charge. She herself, however, under- 
took to show me about the grounds ; so we passed 
through an iron gate, and walked about between the 
palace and the lake, on the open grounds which I have 
already described. These guides have generally a 
certain round of statements to make to you, beyond 
which they know nothing. All attempts to get any 
information beyond these limits are vain, resulting only 



176 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

Dialogue with the guide. The Dry Wells. The Giant's Grave. 

in replies, of which my conversation with this girl is a 
pretty fair illustration. I knew that the land around 
the palace, which, though inclosed, was still open to 
the public bj' gates and stiles, and seemed to be a sort 
of common, was called the Peel. I asked the girl — she 
was twelve or thirteen years of age — why they called 
it the Peel. 

"Sir?" "What does Peel mean? Why do they 
call it the Peel ?" " I dinna ken, sir ; they joost ca' it 
the Peel : and those hills across the loch are the Glo- 
roran Hills." " Glororan ? How do they spell Gloro- 
ran?" " G, 1, o — I dinna ken, sir, joost how they spell 
it. And that hoose yon is — " And so she went on to 
tell me about the distant houses in view. 

We went round the corner of the palace to the north- 
ern side. There were the remains of some kind of a 
structure, about twelve feet from the side of the pal- 
ace, and three or four detached arches, or flying but- 
tresses, as they are called, springing from it over to 
the wall of building. As we walked under these arch- 
es, my young conductress continued, in her peculiar 
Scotch accent, 

" And this is the Dry Wells." " The Dry Wells !" I 
replied, stopping and looking about in vain for any ap- 
pearance of wells. " I do not see any wells." " It's 
joost the Dry Wells." " But why do they call this place 
the Dry Wells ? were there ever any wells here ?" " I 
dinna ken," she said, going on as if anxious to get me 
away from the place ; " they always ca' it joost the Dry 
Wells. And all that green brae," pointing to the east- 
ern slope of the little swell of land on which the palace 
was built, " is the Giant's Grave." " Ah ! was there a 
giant buried here ?" " I dinna ken, sir ; it is joost the 



LINLITHGOW. 177 



The Lion's Den. A quiet scene. 

Giant's Grave. And now I will show you the Lion's 
Den." 

When she mentioned a lion's den, I thought I had 
now found a subject on which she would have some- 
thing more to say than merely to repeat a name ; for 
if any thing would awaken the curiosity and interest of 
a child, it would be this. But I found it was all the 
same. She led me along the top of a broad wall. 
The top was covered with grass and weeds, through 
which, however, there was a well-worn foot-path. At 
the end of this path we came to a round cavity like a 
well, walled up from the surface of the ground. We 
looked down into this cavity, which was ten or twelve 
feet deep ; my guide saying, in the same tone as before, 
" And this is the Lion's Den." 

" The Lion's Den !" I replied. " I think you must have 
made a mistake. This must be one of the dry wells." 
" Na, sir, na ; it is joost the Lion's Den ; and down at 
the bottom there is a sma' hole in the wa', where the 
boys can creep in and out." " Indeed ! W^ell, it is a 
curious place ; do you suppose, now, they ever kept a 
lion here ?" " I dinna ken, sir ; it is joost the Lion's 
Den." 

I rambled about a little longer, but the hour was ap- 
proaching for my departure by the Glasgow train, and 
I was obliged, though very reluctantly, to leave the 
scene. The water of the lake was calm and smooth. 
The morning air was still. The old gray and crum- 
bling walls seemed to repose calmly in the summer's 
sun. Every thing was beautiful ; but the mind was 
continually recurring to the mournful story of Mary's 
life, and vainly endeavoring to form a picture of her 
infantile form reposing in her mother's arms, and look- 



178 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

Mary. Force of association. 

ing out upon the lake and the meadows. As you say 
to yourself, these are the very fields, and this the very 
lake that she saw, and here, over our heads, is the very 
window from which she saw them, the whole landscape 
assumes a melancholy expression. The fields look sad, 
the lake forsaken, and even the venerable trees seem 
deserted and lonely. Poor Mary ! Her memory 
spreads a sad and somber atmosphere over every 
scene connected with her name. 



THE HIGHLANDS. X70 



The Highlands. Lochs. How they are reached. 



LETTER X. 

ENTRANCE INTO THE HIGHLANDS. 

August 18. 

In the western part of Scotland there is an extended 
mountainous region, intersected by numerous lakes and 
by deep bays from the sea, which allures a great num- 
ber of tourists by its wild and picturesque scenery. 
This district has the name of the Western Highlands. 
Among its numerous sheets of water there are two 
lakes more celebrated than the rest, Loch Lomond and 
Loch Katrine. Loch Lomond is easily accessible from 
Glasgow, and Loch Katrine from Edinburgh. The 
passage across from one to the other is not more than 
four or five miles in length, but it is through a glen so 
wild, and by a road so rough and steep, as to be im- 
practicable for regular coaches. The tourists who 
wish to visit these Highlands can set out from Edin- 
burgh or Glasgow, and reach one or the other of these 
lakes by a very pleasant drive, and pass along the lake, 
whichever one they have reached, by a still more 
pleasant sail in the little steam-boat which plies upon 
it; and then they have to go as they can, by droskies, 
ponies, or on foot, across from one lake to the other. 

Loch Katrine, as will be seen from a map, is at right 
angles to Loch Lomond, and its extremity is nearly 
opposite to the middle of the latter lake. The steamer 
passes up and down through the whole length of Loch 
Lomond, stopping each way to take in the passengers 
who come across the glen from Loch Katrine. Our 
party entered the Highlands from the Edinburgh side. 
Our plan was to go through Loch Katrine and the 



180 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

Valley of the Forth. Stirling Castle. Callandy. 

glen, until we reached Loch Lomond, and to form om* 
subsequent arrangements after our arrival there. 

We traveled from Edinburgh very leisurely up the 
valley of the Forth, as broad and beautiful and rich a 
valley as the imagination can conceive. Distant mount- 
ains, drav^ring gradually nearer and nearer together as 
we approached the head of the valley, bound the view 
to the north and south. Between these mountains is a 
broad and luxuriantly fertile district, in some parts 
level, and in others gently undulating, covered with 
cottages, gardens, parks, villas, and plantations of trees, 
which continually vary the scene and present every 
where new pictures of peace and plenty. 

The town and castle of Stirling stand on a rocky 
hill, which rises like an island from the middle of this 
scene of fertility and beauty. We can see the gray 
towers and battlements of the fortress crowning its 
summit for twenty miles around. We spent a few 
hours in rambling about the castle itself, and over the 
long gravel-walks winding about the declivities of the 
hill, and then took our seats upon the outside of the 
coach and went on. We rode at a hand -gallop, over 
a smooth and level road, for twenty miles further, when 
we reached what seemed to be the head of the valley. 
The mountains, which had been drawing nearer and 
nearer, now almost entirely hemmed us in. We ended 
the ride by driving, just after sunset, into a long street 
of cottages, with walls, some gray, others white, and 
roofs either thatched or tiled. The doors and side- 
walks, and, in fact, half the street, were all filled with 
the cottagers, and their wives and children, enjoying 
the evening air. 

At the end of the village was the inn. Dark mount- 



THE HIGHLANDS. 181 



The inn. Boy guide. The Gaelic girls. 

ains rose behind it and around it on all sides. In front, 
in the center of the valley, flowed a small river, mean- 
dering its way toward the fertile plains through which 
we had been traveling. We dismounted from our high 
seats and entered the inn ; and, after getting possession 
of our quarters for the night, we sallied forth to take a 
walk, and see a waterfall not far oflT among the mount- 
ains. 

We walked first back through the village, taking a 
boy from the inn-door for a guide. We turned off* 
from the street at last, and began to ascend, by a rough 
bridle-path, up one of the lower slopes of the mount- 
ains behind it. The land was destitute of trees, but it 
was covered with dense herbage, which gave it a smooth 
and not uninviting appearance. We had not proceed- 
ed far before we met two young girls who were com- 
ing down from the pastures above. They were bare- 
footed, but in other respects were comfortably enough 
dressed. They answered my salutation, as we passed 
them, first in English, and then in some words which I 
did not understand. I asked our little guide what they 
had said. '• Oh," replied he, " only 'Very well, I thank 
you, sir,' in Gaelic." " Ah !" said I, *' do they speak 
Gaelic?" "Yes, sir," said the boy; and then, address- 
ing the girls, who had now come near to us, and were 
looking up with bright and beaming faces, he added, 
" Sing the gentlemen a Gaelic song." " Yes," said I, 
" let us hear it ; sing away." 

The children looked as if they were all ready to sing 
at the boy's invitation ; but they did not begin until it 
was ratified by mine. The instant, however, that my 
words were uttered, they dashed together at once into 
the song. Their voices were clear and full ; the air 

Q 



182 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

The Gaelic song. An excursion. A joyous party. 

was simple, but very spirited and expressive, and re- 
quired a rapid enunciation of the v^^ords, wliich they 
.articulated vv^ith great distinctness, and in most perfect 
time. While singing, they turned aw^ay a little, from 
an instinctive modesty, so as to avert their faces from 
us ; but as soon as their song v^as over, they turned to 
us again, and looked up with countenances beaming 
with an expression of satisfaction and enjoyment, and 
answered all our questions frankly and without fear. 

We gave them a penny a piece, and asked them to 
go on with us to the waterfall. They very readily ac-- 
cepted the invitation, and kept with us for the remain- 
der of the excursion, running to and fro, leaping over 
the brooks, pursuing each other around the tufts of 
heather, laughing, singing, and caroling like birds all 
the way. We were joined afterward by two more, 
who with the boy made five, all under twelve years ol 
age, who seemed to talk Gaelic, laugh Gaelic, and sing 
Gaelic all the way. The distance was a mile and a 
half; and what with their running, and jumping, and 
unnecessary clambering, and pursuing each other in 
endless circles and figures of eight, they expended 
strength enough for four times such a distance, and 
yet appeared to have just as much strength and elas- 
ticity at the end as at the beginning. They amused us 
all the way by their quaint answers to our questions — 
their simplicity, combined with quickness and intelli- 
gence, and by their boundless and irrepressible glee. 

It was nearly dark before we reached the waterfall. 
We found a deep chasm, with sides ragged and irreg- 
ular, and made picturesque by a growth of trees which 
were just numerous enough to adorn, without conceal- 
ing, the features of the scene. We scrambled down 



THE HIGHLANDS. 183 



Falls of Brachlinn. Rustic bridge. The coach. 

half way by a rough and irregular path. Below this 
the chasm became a fissure, or, rather, a congeries of 
fissures, extremely broken and irregular. At a nar- 
row part of this fissure three small logs had been placed 
across it, fifty feet, it was said, above the water ; and 
short boards were nailed across the logs, to walk upon 
— far enough, however, from each other to allow of a 
full view, through the wide crevices, of the foaming tor- 
rent below. Two poles for a railing completed this 
rustic bridge. 

We went across it, though I thought the passage re- 
quired some courage in the lady of our party. We 
clambered along the rocks upon the other side, until we 
reached a projecting shelf — a sort of Table Rock — be- 
low the fall, where we looked around upon a scene ex- 
tremely wild, and which would have been desolate and 
gloomy had it not been for the glad and meiTy voices 
of our Gaelic children, who climbed about the rocks, 
and ran up and down the dechvities in ceaseless ac- 
tivity and joy. 

The next morning at nine o'clock we found our- 
selves seated, with a dozen other passengers, in an open 
car before the inn door, ready to continue our journey 
up the valley, which becomes, from this point, a nar- 
row glen. The covered coach goes no further. In 
fact, as almost every one who visits these Highland 
regions, does it for the purpose of enjoying the views 
of the scenery, the passengers would not ride inside a 
coach if the opportunity were oflfered them. After a 
great deal of arranging and adjusting of persons and 
baggage, we set off, strangers to one another, yet all ob- 
viously in pursuit of the same purpose, as almost every 



184 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

Mountain scenery. Tourists and showers. The Trosachs. 

one had a guide-book, or a map, or a copy of the Lady 
of the Lake in his hands. The mountains on each side 
of the way were dark and beautiful, wooded below, 
and covered on their higher declivities with a thick 
growth of heather and ferns, which gives them a 
splendid velvet-like clothing, variegated with the richest 
shades of brown and green. The sun and the clouds 
threw the shadows across these slopes in such a man- 
ner as to exhibit their changing forms, and vary con- 
tinually their aspects as we advanced up the glen. At 
last, however, one of these mountain clouds, darker 
than the rest, sent us down a shower. Guide-books 
and maps immediately gave place, by a very sudden 
transformation, to cloaks and umbrellas. The showei 
lasted as long as it continued to be amusing, and ther 
the sun came out again, and the umbrellas went down 
In the mean time, through rain and through sunshine 
the horses cantered on, up hill and down, over a roac 
exti-emely narrow, but extremely beautiful and smooth. 
There were scarcely any human habitations to be seen, 
excepting here and there a little hamlet of half a dozen 
ancient cottages of stone, with brown walls and green 
roofs, made green by the waving grass which grew 
upon the ancient thatching. 

The road which we were traveling passes along the 
shores of two small lakes, and at the end of the second 
one, called Loch Achray, it enters into a narrow and 
most romantic gorge through the mountains, called the 
Trosachs. In the middle of the gorge, which is about 
two miles from its commencement, the road is suddenly 
terminated by a sheet of water, which fills the whole 
breadth of the glen, from rock to rock, on either side. 
This is the commencement of Loch Katrine. There 



THE HIGHLANDS. 185 



Loch Katrine. Ardcheanochrochan Inn. Scenery. 

has been a narrow path-way hewn out — in some places 
entirely out of the solid rock — along one of the shores 
of Loch Katrine; but for all purposes of traveling, the 
road terminates at the loch, and a little steamer comes 
there to receive the travelers. There is, however, no 
place for an inn at the landing. The nearest conven- 
ient place for a human dwelling is at the other entrance 
to the gorge, where, in a very picturesque and beau- 
tiful situation, is a refuge for travelers, known among 
the Highlanders, and marked upon the maps, as the 
Ardcheanochrochan Inn. As this, however, is a name 
which none but a Highlander can pronounce, the inn is 
commonly known among tourists as the Trosachs Inn. 
Those who wish to stop at this pass make this inn 
their home. Others go on through the pass to the land- 
ing, and enter the steamer at once, which is there about 
the time of their arrival. If the coach arrives first, the 
passengers climb about the rocks, and walk along the 
shores, if the weather is fine ; and if it rains, as it gen- 
erally does among these mountains, they seek shelter 
in an old stone boat-house, and sit wretched and for- 
lorn, on planks or spars lying there, and wishing that 
they were comfortably at their own homes again. 

We were to stop at the inn, at the entrance to the 
pass. It was in a very romantic situation. There 
was a beautiful garden before it, inclosed with stone 
walls. The inn itself was built substantially of stone, 
and consisted of a square edifice flanked by a large 
round tower, so that it looked quite like a castle. There 
was a large porch before the door, completely envel- 
oped and concealed with ivy and other climbing plants. 
Around and behind the house there was a little village 
of cottage-hke buildings, with walls covered with ivy, 

Q2 



18(5 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

Pass of the Trosachs. Benan and Benvenue. 

and roofs thatched, some of them arranged around a 
sort of court-yard, in which various foreign-looking 
carriages were standing. High mountains rose be- 
yond ; and there was a deep ravine, through which a 
large brook came tumbling down the rocks behind the 
inn, and then, turning to one side, passed across the 
road under an arched bridge. In front, beyond the 
road, were green fields where the hay-makers were at 
work, and beyond the fields the little Loch Achray, 
already spoken of, was spread out before us, with 
wooded banks, and a road winding under the cliffs, 
along its margin. 

The inn is a sort of general rendezvous for tourists, 
and parties are continually arriving and setting off, of 
every rank and grade, from students traveling on foot, 
with their knapsacks on their backs, to noblemen in 
sumptuous carriages, and with liveried attendants. The 
pass of the Trosachs is one of the most famous passes 
in Scotland, and, in fact, it is not unworthy of its fame. 

We walked and rode several times through the pass 
from the inn to the steam-boat landing on the lake. 
The road winds between the steep and rugged mount- 
ains, generally among forests, where woodmen were 
at work cutting down trees which had been marked 
for this purpose. As you approach the lake, the glen 
becomes more wild, and the mountains more precipi- 
tous and more lofty. Loch Katrine commences be- 
tween two of the loftiest peaks, called Benvenue and 
Benan. Benvenue is an enormous mass, clothed with 
a dense covering of heather and ferns, which gives to 
its furrowed surface a very rich and soft expression, 
and makes it extremely beautiful when the sun shines 
obliquely along its sides. Benan is like Benvenue, ex- 



THE HIGHLANDS. 187 



Showers. Roderic Dhu's Tower. Ellen's Isle. The little steamer. 

cept that a great conical and rocky peak towers up- 
ward at its summit. The reader must not understand 
that Benan and Benvenue are single and isolated mount- 
ains. These names mark only the highest points of 
great ranges, between which the waters of Loch Ka- 
trine, winding tortuously, insinuate themselves, as far 
as to the middle of the ravine which separates the 
mountains from each other. 

We left the inn in sunshine. When we reached the 
lake the mountains were enveloped in clouds, and we 
were driven into the boat-house by showers of rain. 
Half an hour afterward we were climbing up the prec- 
ipices on one side of the lake, looking down upon its 
dark waters far below us, and quoting the Lady of the 
Lake, of which this end of the loch was the scene. 
Roderic Dhu's Watch-tower is a rocky hill, a sort of 
spur from Benvenue, rising some hundred feet from the 
maro^in of the water, on the southern side. Around a 
promontory is an island called Ellen's Isle, which tour- 
ists often visit in boats kept for the purpose by boat- 
men belonging to the inn. These boats have a very 
picturesque appearance in such a wild spot, as we 
looked down upon them at one time from the little em- 
inences at the foot of Benan, to which we had ascend- 
ed, and where, reclining on the soft heather, we could 
survey the magnificent scene around us in comfort and 
at our leisure. The steam-boat came in at that time, 
too, and, after lying fifteen minutes so close under the 
cliffs at our feet as to be entirely hidden by them, and 
filling the valley with the blasts of her steam, she came 
forth into view again, and paddled away with her dozen 
passengers, under the rocks and around the promonto- 
ries, until she was lost to sight beyond Ellen's Isle. 



188 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

Variable weatlier. The portage. Rains in the Highlandg. 

We embarked the next day on board this Httle ves- 
sel. It was the smallest steamer I ever saw afloat. 
It was, in fact, an open boat, long and narrow, with a 
little engine in the center, and seats around the sides. 
It is true, there was a sort of canvas canopy over the 
seats in the stem, with windows in the sides, but there 
were no decks, except a partial one about the engine, 
where, perhaps, ten persons might stand. The cylin- 
der was of fourteen inches diameter, and about two 
feet stroke ; but it performed its work very well, and 
carried us rapidly along, sometimes through sunshine, 
sometimes through misty clouds, which came rolling 
down upon us from the declivities of the mountains, 
and sometimes through pouring showers of rain. 

At length we landed, and then commenced the jour- 
ney over the portage to Loch Lomond. Some of the 
company set off briskly to walk, with knapsacks on 
their backs, or bags strapped to their sides ; others 
mounted ponies ; and others, forming parties for this 
purpose, got into droskies, a sort of two-seated gig ; 
and thus we set forth, a very miscellaneous-looking 
procession, traveling forlorn and disconsolate through 
mud and rain. 

The results of weather records which have been 
kept in the Western Highlands show that it rains, on 
an average, two days out of three throughout the year. 
It is true that the proportion is greater in the winter 
than in the summer months ; but in the summer months, 
according to our experience, it rains about two days 
out of four ; and all travelers visiting these regions 
ought to take this into the account beforehand, for thfen 
the evil is much more easily borne. Nor is it, in fact, 
altogether and wholly an evil. A mountainous glen 



I 



THE HIGHLANDS. 189 



Mists and vapors. Absence of dwellings. 

has a wild and sublime expression when storms are 
" -ving through it, entirely different from that w' 
/Ossesses when in sunshine and repose. Sometiii 
a mass of mist, advancing slowly, brings out to viev. 
new forms and new outlines, as it cuts off in succession 
those which were more remote, or shades them differ- 
ently from those that are near, thus giving a depth and 
a distance to the back-ground of the picture which 
would not otherwise have been seen. Sometimes a 
black cloud hangs lowering over a dark gorge in 
the mountains, concealing the summits from view, but 
heightening the sublimity of the scene by adding its 
own gloom to that of the fearful ravine over which 
it reposes. At one moment our attention is attracted 
by a white cloud, lying like a cap upon the summit of 
a lofty peak ; and at another, by great masses of va- 
por scudding swiftly along the face of a declivity, or 
reposing quietly in the bosom of some elevated glen, 
where they increase rapidly for a time, with signs of 
great internal commotion, and then as rapidly melt 
away and disappear. 

We observed these phenomena, which continued to 
present themselves, with intervals of sunshine and 
brightness, as we rode through the glens. We were 
surprised to see how destitute they were of human 
dwellings. Not only here, but in all the other High- 
land valleys which we afterward visited, the land seem- 
ed almost entirely destitute of inhabitants. In attempt- 
ing to conceive of one of these glens, the reader must 
dismiss from his mind all ideas taken from New En- 
gland scenes : the hills covered with forests ; the cheer- 
ful " openings" of the settlers ; the inclosed fields and 
pastures; and the group of barns and sheds about the 



190 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

Scenery in the glcna. The old woman in the hut 

farmer's dwelling. Instead of all this, you must im- 
agine a great valley many miles in extent, but all na- 
ked and open to your unobstructed view ; the steep 
and lofty declivities on each side covered with a rich, 
smooth, and soft carpet of grass and heather, over 
which are thinly scattered the sheep and the cattle, to 
which man has every where given way. Along in the 
bottom of the valley runs a smooth but very narrow 
road. You pass here and there a sohtary hut of stone, 
with a few small patches of cultivation around it. 
There is sometimes a second hut for a cow-house, but 
as often, perhaps, one roof covers both the cotter and 
his cow. You meet no cart or team in the road, and 
no farmer's wagon. There are tourists and sports- 
men, some on foot, some in private carriages, and some 
in the mail-coaches and in cars. Here and there you 
come to an inn, with several cottages in its neighbor- 
hood ; and when you enter it, you are surprised to find 
how well they can supply you with the comforts and 
elegances of life. In fact, the whole land is given up 
to sheep, and cattle, and grouse, and to sportsmen and 
tourists, the sole occupation of the cottagers being to 
take care of the one, and that of villages to provide for 
the other. 

■ I stopped at one of the huts I have described. It 
was the residence, my drosky driver told me, of an old 
woman more than seventy years of age, who lived there 
alone, dependent on the parish for her support. She 
had company while I was there, a neighbor having 
called in to see her. I call her a neighbor, though I 
think the nearest house was a mile distant. The old 
lady had a cow, and I called for a glass of milk. There 
was but one room in the hut, though a portion of it was 



THE HIGHLANDS. 191 



Interior of a hut. Fall of the Highland chieftains. 

divided off by tattered curtains for a bed-room. It was 
very dark v^^itiiin, and every tiling was blacliened by 
smoke. The fire was on a stone upon the floor ; there 
was a small kettle over it, held by a chain which was 
supported at the upper end by three poles, forming a 
sort of tripod over the fire. What became of the smoke 
above I do not recollect to have observed. 

Many travelers are much surprised, in first visiting 
the Highlands, at finding so thin a population, and so 
few traces of the ancient Highland manners. We form 
our ideas from histories and tales, which refer to a pe- 
riod now a hundred years gone by, and are surprised 
not to find these conceptions now realized. The HigH- 
landers continued under their chieftains, and organized 
as clans, until about a century ago, when the British 
crown passed from the house of Stuart to the house of 
Hanover. The clans resisted this change, and, conse- 
quently, came into conflict with the English Parlia- 
ment. Their attempt to support the Stuarts was final- 
ly put down, in so far as military operations were con- 
cerned, at the great battle of Culloden,near Inverness, 
in the North of Scotland ; and, to prevent a renewal 
of such contests, the English government passed laws, 
from time to time, the effect of which was first to de- 
stroy the jurisdiction of the chiefs, and then to deprive 
them of their wealth and consideration in their clans, 
and, finally, to bring in other persons as purchasers 
and grantees of the lands, until the whole system was 
changed, and it lives now only in lingering memories oi 
the past, and in song. The clans are all intermingled 
and scattered ; the chieftains are nearly forgotten ; the 
dress is seldom seen, except as a sort of spectacle on 
occasions of ceremony ; and the whole population have 



192 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

Tourists. Sportsmen. Grouse shooting. 

become the shepherds and herdsmen of Enghsh and 
Scotch proprietors, oi", rather, of the tacksmen, who hire 
the grazing of the hmd. Many things make it a striking 
and interesting region to visit. The smoothness of the 
roads, the abundance of conveyances, the comforts of 
the inns, and the strange wildness of the scenery, all con- 
spire to fill the country, every summer, with tourists of 
every degree — from the queen who penetrates far into 
the land on the lochs by her royal yacht, to the student 
who walks from glen to glen, with his knapsack on his 
back, and his guide-book or his spy-glass strapped to 
his side. 

The sportsmen constitute another class who visit 
these regions in clouds. The hills and moors are cov- 
ered with a sort of bird somewhat similar to the par- 
tridge, called the grouse. The right to shoot them is 
reserved by the proprietor, generally, for his own use, 
or that of his friends ; or, if he lets it, it is generally to 
some different party from the one who " takes the graz- 
ing." The twelfth of August is the day for the shooting 
to commence; before that time it is prohibited by law^ 
When the day approaches, large numbers of the gentry 
from the south flock northward, with dogs and guns, to 
be ready " to take the moor" the moment the shield of 
parliamentary protection over the poor birds is with- 
drawn. The proprietor of an estate builds for his ac- 
commodation, during the shooting season, a sort of 
summer-house, called a shooting-box. This dwelling is 
furnished with all sorts of implements of hunting and 
fishing, and constitutes the place of repose for the party 
at night, and their refuge in storms. Some of these 
hunting-boxes are very plain and primitive structures ; 
others are spacious and costly ; but all are arranged 



THE HIGHLANDS. 193 



Shooting-boxes. 



and furnished in a wild and rustic style, in order that 
the noble occupants may find in them, for a few sum- 
mer weeks, a spirited and piquant contrast to the ele- 
gances, refinements, and splendors, with the sight of 
which they become satiated and tired during the rest 
of the year, in their castles and halls in the country, 
and in their gay saloons in London. 

R 



194 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

A Loch Lomond Inn. The bay and landing. 



LETTER XL 

LOCH LOMOND. 

Aus:ust 19. 

The reader must imagine me seated in a very little 
chamber in the garret of an ancient stone cottage, call- 
ed Rowerdennan Inn. The room is approached by a 
rude stone stair-case on the outside of the building. 
Half of the floor of the room is occupied by two beds, 
placed head to head, opposite to the door. The roof 
inclines each way, leaving only a narrow place in the 
center where one can stand upright. In one of these 
sloping sides there is a sliding window of two panes, 
under the light of which I am writing. The house is 
in the middle of a small tract of smooth and fertile land, 
and is surrounded with little gardens, fields, trees, and 
cottage-like looking sheds and barns — the whole lying 
on the shore of Loch Lomond. There is a little bay, 
with a winding sandy beach, bordered by rocky points 
and promontories. A broad foot-path leads from the 
rude stone pier, which projects from this beach into the 
water, up to the inn. As I stand at the door of my 
chamber, I see the smooth surface of the lake spread 
out before me, and dark mountains towering all around 
till they are lost in misty clouds. We are told that we 
are at the foot of Ben Lomond ; but the clouds have 
drawn a veil over all the lofty peaks around us, as if 
to withdraw them for a time from view, in order to 
give the more humble summits their share of attention 
and honor. 

We came in sight of Loch Lomond at about the mid- 
dle of its length, by the way of a high mountain pass 



LOCH LOMOND. 105 



The drosky. Rain. A disagreeable walk. 

from the eastward. When we arrived at the end of 
this pass we looked down from it to the lake, which 
was spread before us far below, in the bottom of a long 
and narrow valley. We were traveling in a drosky, 
which is a sort of open car with two seats. Heavy 
clouds and mists were rolling along the glen, and 
hanging upon the declivities of the mountains, bring- 
ing out to view, however, rather than concealing their 
forms, by revealing one outline after another as they 
moved along. The scene was very picturesque, but 
very uncomfortable ; for the rain poured down at in- 
tervals in merciless torrents, from which our umbrel- 
las afforded very ineffectual protection. The magnifi- 
cent prospect, however, of the lake, and of the dark 
and deep valley in which it was reposing, was render- 
ed more sublime by the grand and gloomy effect pro- 
duced by the clouds and showers. 

Travelers riding in the rain, however, are general- 
ly much more interested in the prospect of an inn than 
in prospects of the picturesque ; and we were chiefly 
pleased with the lake's coming into view, on account 
of our expectation of finding shelter down upon the 
shore of it. It was but a quarter of a mile further 
down the hill, and we were congratulating ourselves 
with the thought that our discomforts for the day were 
over, when the drosky stopped, and, on inquiring what 
was the matter, our Highland coachman told us that 
we could not ride any further. The road down to the 
shore was too steep for wheels to descend. As we 
had a lady in charge, not much accustomed to i-ough- 
ing it, this was not very agreeable news. There was, 
however, no help, and, umbrellas in hand, we descend- 
ed a very steep and slippery road for a long and tire- 



196 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

. 



Inversnaid. A waterfall. Tlie Loch Lomond steamer. 



some way, which, at least, helped us to realize how 
deep is the vast ravine at the bottom of which the dark 
waters of Loch Lomond lie. 

We found the inn at a moderate elevation from the 
beach, on a sort of shelf of land, surrounded by forests, 
and overtopped by the steep declivity which we had 
descended ; and with nothing to enliven its absolute^ 
solitude but a great cascade, which came foaming and 
tumbling down a rocky glen by its side. As I have 
before stated. Loch Lomond extends from north to 
south. The point at which we had approached it was 
near the middle of the eastern side. We expected a 
steam-boat to come up the loch from the southward, 
and there were twenty or thirty wet and weary tour- 
ists like ourselves awaiting its arrival ; some drying 
themselves at the kitchen fire ; some standing upon a 
little lawn in front of the inn watching for the boat ; 
and some, regardless of the rain, were rambling about 
upon the shore, or leaping from rock to rock at the foot 
of the waterfall. The stream was swollen by the rain, 
and the cataract formed quite an imposing spectacle. 

At length the little steamer came gliding into view 
around a prominent point of land across the lake, its 
last landing-place, before coming for us, having been 
upon the other side. Our company moved down to- 
ward the shore, followed by porters loaded with lug- 
gage. The trunks and carpet-bags were put on board 
a boat which was lying at a rustic pier. The passen- 
gers crowded in after the luggage, the ladies taking 
their seats in the stern, and the gentlemen standing as 
they could, wherever the trunks and the oarsmen left 
them room. In this condition we pushed off slow^ly 
toward the steamer, which inclined toward the shore 



LOCH LOMOND. 197 



Tourists. The saloon. The raised deck. 

to receive us. We drew up alongside ; we exchang- 
ed a boat-load of embarking for a boat-load of landing 
passengers, the steam-pipe keeping up a deafening 
noise through the whole transaction, as if the engine 
were impatient of delay. The boat pushed off; the 
steam-pipe was hushed ; the paddle-wheels recom- 
menced their revolutions, and we found ourselves ush- 
ered into a new and peculiar scene. 

The steamer was small, and was evidently con- 
structed especially for the accommodation of tourists 
who travel to see. There was a narrow saloon, occu- 
pying the whole length of the boat, behind the engine, 
as wide as a rail-road car, and twice as long. There 
were hair-cloth seats all around the sides of the saloon, 
and a table at one end, which, so far as it extended, 
filled up the whole interior. This little saloon was all 
the boat ; the structure not being large enough to allow 
of either a deck above or a cabin below. It had win- 
dows along the sides, from which, in rainy weather, the 
tourists, shut up within, could look out upon the mists 
and clouds driving along the declivities of the mount- 
ains, between which the narrow loch lies imprisoned. 

There was, however, a little raised deck further for- 
ward, with seats around it sufficiently capacious, per- 
haps, to accommodate a party of twenty. This plat- 
form, being higher than most other parts of the boat, 
afforded a fine view of the loch and of the adjacent 
shores ; and the settees upon it were generally well 
filled with gazers, both in sunshine and rain. 

In this boat I afterward made several voyages on 
the lake, and it must be admitted that the series of 
views which its shores present constitute a very ex- 
traordinary spectacle. As it first strikes the eye, one's 

R2 



198 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

Scenery of the loch. The shores. Landings. 

impression is that tiie loch is simply a long and nar- 
row sheet of water, bordered by lofty mountains which 
rise abruptly fx'om the water's edge, and are endlessly 
varied in contour, but all clothed to their summits with 
a rich, soft, and velvet-like covering of deep green and 
brown. The whole scene, though inexpressibly beau- 
tiful and grand, seems at fii-st an absolute solitude. On 
a more careful inspection, however, we perceive that 
the shores are more distant than we at first imagined, 
and that there is a border near the water, where there 
are glimpses here and there of a smooth and cultivated 
field, and now and then a cottage. And when, in conse- A 
quence of some curvature in the direction of the loch,' 
our course lies, for a few minutes, nearer than usual to 
the shore, we can distinguish a road winding along, not 
far from the beach, with a carriage alternately appear- 
ing and disappearing among the trees ; and scattered 
sheep and herds of cattle come into view, grazing, 
sometimes at great heights, on the declivities of the 
mountain. 

The steamer, in the mean time, advances in a zigzag 
direction from one side of the loch to the other, to 
touch at points where ravines, running oflT at right 
angles to the shore, open a way for a road to some 
other loch or distant glen. Where such ravines open 
upon the shore, there will generally be a little tract of 
cultivated land, with a landing and an inn, and perhaps 
an old stone cottage or two besides. The entire ab- 
sence, however, of all indications of business or traffic 
at these points seems very strange to American eyes. 
The wharf is always a mere rustic pier for foot passen- 
gers to land upon from a boat. The only goods re- 
ceived or landed are aristocratic-looking trunks, port- 



LOCH LOMOND. 199 



A seeming solitude. Walk along shore. Peasant girl. 



manteaus, and bonnet-boxes ; and the travelers are 
all tourists in search of the picturesque, with maps, 
spy-glasses, and guide-books in their hands, and hav- 
ing, in all respects, the air of a party of pleasure. There 
is, in fact, no business, as there seems to be no local 
population. The fevi^ faint traces of the presence of 
man along the shores have to be sought out with scru- 
tiny and care. To the general view the whole scene 
appears a wild, but rich and luxuriant solitude, which 
must be beautiful in sunshine, and certainly is sublime 
when enveloped, as we saw it, in clouds and storms. 

From one of the landings above described, where I 
slopped to spend the night, I strolled out after dinnef, 
that is, just in the edge of the evening, to take a walk 
along the shore. The narrow strip of habitable land, 
which was scarcely to be perceived from on board the 
steamer, expanded, when I came to walk upon it, into 
a broad region of fields and groves, from which some- 
times neither the mountain on one side nor the lake on 
the other could be seen. At a little distance from the 
inn, I overtook a peasant girl very neatly dressed. She 
had, what was a little unusual, a bonnet on her head, 
and she carried a basket and an umbrella in her hands. 
As I came up to her, just after crossing a brook which 
came tumbling down from the mountains in a foaming 
cascade, and was here crossing the path on its way to 
the loch, I observed that she had stopped, and was 
stooping down, as if doing something about her feet. 
I at first walked slowly, to give her time before I should 
approach, but she continued intent in her stooping pos- 
ture, and I began to imagine that some accident might 
have happened to her foot. I asked her if any thing 
was the matter; and she replied, very naively, that 



200 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

Shoes and stockings. A bum to cross. 

"there was na' ony thing the matter," she was only 
"taking off her shoes and stockings because they hurt 
her feet." The road was very rough " a Httle further 
alang," and she could " gang better barefoot." 

This mode of faciUtating one's passage over a rough 
and stony road was somewhat new to me. Without, 
however, concluding to adopt it myself, I waited a mo 
ment for her, and we walked along together. She an 
swered all my numerous questions about her condition 
and mode of life with great frankness and propriety, 
but yet with the utmost modesty and delicacy of be- 
havior. We came at length to a little stream, broad 1 
though shallow, which flowed across the path. " Dear ■ 
me," said I, " what shall I do now ? I can not get 
across this water." 

" Na," said she, " ye canna get across here ; but stay, 
I'll pit a stane for ye." 

She walked through the water very composedly, and 
placed stepping-stones for me, after which we went on 
again together. 

Our path led us sometimes close along the shore, 
sometimes a little further back, through fields of oats 
and grain, and sometimes through groves of trees plant- 
ed by the proprietor. The scene was every where 
beautiful ; and, though we sometimes lost sight both of 
the loch and of the mountain, we were never out of 
hearing of the waves dashing upon the beach of the 
one, or of the cascades descending the declivities of 
the other. At last, after following the path diagonally 
up a gentle slope, with a field of oats above and below, 
we came, at the top of the declivity, to an ancient High- 
land cottage, with gray stone walls and thatched roof. 
A woman, very neatly dressed, and with a very intel- 



LOCH LOMOND. 201 



Highland cottage. Occupants. Interior. 

ligent and even handsome countenance, stood at the 
door. Two or three of her children were near her. 
One of them was a beautiful little girl of seven, with 
her hair hanging in curls upon her neck, and arranged 
in a manner to show that maternal pride, as well as 
other human instincts, might flourish in a Highland cot- 
tage. My good-natured conductress was going fur- 
ther. I accordingly bade her good-by, and stopped 
myself at the cottage door. 

After some minutes' conversation with the mother 
and her child, on the great flat stone which served 
both for step and platform, I was invited to walk in 
and rest myself. I readily accepted the invitation. 
The room was very small, and I had to stoop to enter. 
A pet lamb, full grown, a dog, and a kitten ran out as 
1 went in. The floor was of flat stones embedded 
roughly in the ground. There was no chimney, though 
there was a fire in the back part of the room, built 
against a large square stone, placed there to sustain it. 
There was a rough sort of ceiling overhead, formed of 
poles laid close together from the top of the wall on 
one side to the other. Directly over the fire there was 
a large square opening in this ceiling, through which 
most of the smoke from the fire disappeared, but what 
became of it above I could not see. Down through 
this opening a chain descended, and a kettle was hung 
from it over the fire. The fire itself was made of small 
dry sticks which the boys in America would have de- 
spised as materials for even a bonfire. 

In conversation with my hostess, I remarked very 
freely on every thing I saw, comparing the arrange- 
ments of her cottage with the corresponding particu- 
lars in dwellings of a similar class in America. I told 



202 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

Conversation. The sick child. Plan for an ascent. 

her of houses made of logs, of the capacious fire-places^ 
and of the great piles of wood heaped up before the 
farmer's doors for the supply of their winter fires. I 
told her that in many parts of America the forests were 
so abundant that the trees were cut down and destroy- 
ed to get them out of the way, adding, that I supposed 
that here they were not allowed to cut the trees. " Na, 
na," she replied, " we dare na coot a tree. We should 
be driven oot of the land entirely, and be fined forby." 

The children had the hooping-cough. The boy, five 
or six years of age, ran to cling to his mother during 
the paroxysms of coughing, and looked timidly at the 
stranger, and turned his head away from all my at- 
tempts to win his confidence with precisely the air and 
manner of a sick child on the banks of the Connecticut 
or the Androscoggin. The mother, too, had lost one 
child not long before, and she stated the fact to me 
with the same tones of voice, and received my expres- 
sions of interest and sympathy with the same indica- 
tions of gratification and pleasure, as are prompted by 
the maternal heart in every quarter of the globe, show- 
ing that, whatever differences there may be in other 
things, disease and death are every where the same. 

On my return to the inn, which seemed, now that 
the evening had come on, very solitary and still, I met 
a young gentleman, who had apparently just arrived. 
We fell into conversation, and finally made an arrange- 
ment to ascend Ben Lomond together the next morn- 
ing, if the weather should prove favorable. He was 
obliged, he said, to leave the place at half past eleven 
by the steamer, which was to pass at that hour ; and, in 
order to be able to return from our excursion at that 
time, we found that it would be necessary to set out 



I 



LOCH LOMOND. 203 



Morning. Guide. Peculiarity of Scotch mountaiua. 

very early. We finally separated, and retired for the 
night, after making an arrangement with the waiter to 
be called at half past five, " if the weather was fine." 

I awoke, or, rather, half awoke at five, and hoped 
that it was raining. On listening, I found that it was 
not actually raining, but the wind was whistling through 
the crevices in my little sky-light window, as described 
at the commencement of this letter, with a very omin- 
ous sound. To make sure of my right to go to sleep 
again in peace, I rose and looked out. The sky was 
half covered with clouds, but they " had lifted" from 
the mountains, and a fresh wind was blowing down 
the loch, rippling and darkening the surface of the wd- 
ter. A cloudy cap was resting on one of the peaks in 
view, indicating a storm. Nevertheless, the summons 
came. We took a hasty breakfast, and, following our 
guide, we commenced our ascent. 

Ascending mountains is pretty much the same thing 
in all countries, excepting Scotland. Scotland is pe- 
culiar in this respect, viz., that, after leaving the narrow 
region of fields and farms which lie in the valleys, there 
are never forests, or even trees, to confine the view, and 
yet every mountain side and every glen is clothed with 
as rich a verdure and beauty as any forest can give. In 
all the mountains around me, as I sit writing these par- 
agraphs on the landing of the stairs by which I ascend 
to my little garret-chamber, there is not a rock or a 
stone to be seen. A soft, rich cushion of green and 
brown covers the whole, beautifully variegated with 
the different shades of verdure, which grass and heath- 
er in their various combinations assume, and by the 
changes of light and shade produced by the undulating 
surface, and by the movement of the clouds. 



i 



204 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

The ascent. View from Ben Lomond. The " three things." 

As we ascended the lower declivities of Ben Lo- 
mond we had these views presented to us in every di- 
rection. We soon began to look down upon the lake. 
Our inn was seen, with its yards and gardens, in a lit- 
tle dell, a gentle swell of land lying between it and the 
loch. There was the little bay, too, extending up near 
to the inn, with the winding beach, and the boats drawn 
up upon the sand, or moored to the little pier. As we 
rose higher the whole southern half of the loch came 
gradually into view, expanding wide, and dotted with 
islands ; and the northern part, narrow, dark, and deep, 
and hemmed in with lofty mountain slopes of the richest 
green on either hand. My companion asked the guide 
where the floating island was, and quoted to me an old 
Highland saying about Loch Lomond, that it was 

"Famous for three things : 
Waves without winds, 
Fish without fins, 
And an island that swims." 

There were various opinions about the fish alluded 
to in this ancient distich. Some thought it referred to 
one animal, and some to another. The guide insisted 
that it was " a kind of sarpent, half the length of my 
stick — a strriped kind of baste, swimming through the 
wather." The floating island Was only a bank of sand, 
which was covered with something green in summer, 
but was submerged in winter when the water is high. 
By thus disappearing, and afterward returning to its 
place, it obtained the credit, in ancient days, of some- 
times floating away. As to the waves without winds, 
the guide insisted that such a phenomenon was often 
witnessed. It is probable, however, that in that part of 
the distich there is more of rhyme than reason, though 
not much of either. 



LOCH LOMOND. 205 



The cairn. The lost lady. Flocks on the mountains. 

Stopping occasionally to talk about such things as 
these, we slowly ascended, opening new glens, and 
bringing new lochs and new mountain summits contin- 
ually into view. We reached, at length, the brow of 
a broad projection from the mountain range, where 
our attention was attracted by a heap of stones, a sort 
of rude monument, such as is often made in the Scot- 
tish Highlands to commemorate any remarkable event 
of mere local interest. Such a structure is called a 
cairn. This cairn was built in memory of a young 
American lady's adventure in spending a night upon 
the mountain here alone. Our guide told us, that in 
coming down the mountain the party stopped here to 
rest. The young lady rambled away a short distance, 
and before she returned, the others, supposing that she 
had gone on, proceeded after her, but, not finding her, 
they returned to their resting-place, and made diligent 
search all around it. A mist came on, and the young 
lady got completely bewildered and lost. Guides and 
shepherds, summoned from below, spent all night in 
the search, but she was not found until the morninsr, 
when they discovered her in a sad condition of ex- 
haustion and terror, in the midst of a bog, and entan- 
gled among the rocks and heather. 

We found sheep scattered over all the declivities of 
the mountains, even to the very summits. They be- 
long to a tenant who leases all the land for miles up and 
down the loch from the duke who holds it as proprie- 
tor. This tenant leases the cottages and the small 
fields about them to the cotters, making of the rest a 
great grazing farm, which he stocks with sheep, and 
manages through the cotters, whom he employs as 
shepherds and laborers. The guide beguiled the way, 

S 



206 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

A grand view. The summit. 

as we slowly toiled up the mountain, by explaining to 
us how the shepherds managed the flocks ; how often 
they came up the mountains to see them ; and how oft- 
en, and for what purposes, they collected them together. 
As we passed on in this way from height to height, the 
views in every direction extended until we had almost 
a third part of all Scotland under our eye. Off' to the 
south was Arthur's Seat, which we had climbed at Ed- 
inbui'gh, and between it and us there lay the broad val- 
ley which we had been traveling for so many days. 
There was Stirling Castle, rising on its rocky hill from 
the midst of verdant fields and meadows, like a fortress 
on an island. There were the lakes, whose shores our 
road for the last two days had skirted ; and near us Ben 
Venue and Ben An, in the midst of fifty other similar 
peaks, lifted their dark-gi'een heads to the skies. 

At length we approached the summit. Very near 
the highest point was a hut built by a corps of sappers 
and miners in the British service, who occupied the 
mountain for some time as a station for a trigonomet- 
rical survey. There was a large cairn on the very 
summit, built so substantially that the traveler might 
mount to the top of it in pleasant weather, and thus add 
some dozen feet to the elevation of his point of view. 
The weather was very pleasant for us. The cool breeze 
of the morning had died entirely away ; the air was 
calm and serene, and the rocky and moss-covered sum- 
mit seemed to smile in the rays of the summer's sun. 
The atmosphere was unusually transparent. "Ye can 
see," said the guide, " a long distance the day. There 
are a few clouds high, but they dinna hinder the see- 
ing. Ye have a very nice kind of a view the day." 

The guide delivered the usual lecture on geography 



LOCH LOMOND. 207 



Source of the Forth. The frightened sheep. The distant steamer. 

in pointing out and naming the various lociis, and peaks, 
and castles, and towns which were visible from the 
summit, and then laid down upon the moss-covered 
rocks to rest and sleep, while we wandered about at 
our leisure and surveyed the scene. 

My companion, who was a Scotchman from the Low- 
lands, was very much interested, as, in fact, I myself 
also was, in looking down a vast precipice on the north- 
ern side of the mountain, where, in the bottom of a deep, 
dark glen a little stream meandered to and fro among the 
moss and heather. We could see the little spring where 
it issued from the ground, and could trace its course, 
gradually enlarging as it advanced, for many mile's : 
it was the River Forth, the stream whose broad estua- 
ry, north of Edinburgh, forms the harbor for half the 
commerce of Scotland. Loch Lomond was on the oth- 
er side, and far off at the southern end of it, among the 
islands which there covered its surface, we could dis- 
tinguish a small, dark spot, with a little tuft of cloudy 
vapor floating above it : it was the steamer commenc- 
ing its voyage up the lake. The tourists on the little 
raised platform upon its deck were probably gazing 
upon the peak where we stood, though unable, at that 
distance, to distinguish even the lofty cairn which 
crowned its summit. We rolled stones down the prec- 
ipices, until far beneath us we saw a sheep bounding 
out to a projecting shelf of rock, and then gazing up at 
us with an attitude and look expressive of astonish- 
ment at our recklessness. After this reproof, we occu- 
pied ourselves with the more harmless amusements of 
studying the geological character of the rocks, and gath- 
ering the small and delicate white flowers which we 
found here and there in the short grass, to preserve be- 



208 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

The descent. " Ta quaich." A wedding. 

tween the leaves of our guide-books as souvenirs of 
the ascent of Ben Lomond. 

On coming down the mountain, we met, perhaps a 
mile from the summit, another party ascending. They 
were mounted upon ponies, and had stopped at a spring 
to rest and to refresh themselves with a drink. The 
lady of the party looked a little anxious and fearful. 
We endeavored to dispel her apprehensions by stating, 
what was true, that she would find the path smoother 
and better for the remainder of the way. They drank 
from my silver quaich, which the guide admired, say- 
ing it was " a very braw one," and then passed on. In 
resuming our own march, we attempted to ascertain 
from our guide what was the plural of the word quaich, 
which is Gaelic. At first it was difficult to make him 
understand the question, being probably not much ac- 
customed to trouble his head with philological inquiries 
among these mountain solitudes. " What is the plural 
of quaich, guide ?" said we. 

" He did na ken ; he did na exactly understand." 

" Why, suppose there were two of them," said my 
Lowland companion, holding up the quaich: "suppose 
there were two of these, what would you say?" 

" Oh, ta" replied the guide ; " joost ta." 

" Yes, ta is two ; but what be the other word ? ta 
quaichs ?" 

*' Na, na, joost ta quaich. There's na s till it. Ye 
see the Gaelic is different a' thegither. ' Ye wad na be- 
lieve how different it is, enless ye understood it." 

As we continued our descent, Donald told us that 
there was to be a wedding across the loch that after- 
noon, and that he was to be " best man," that is, grooms- 
man. The bride and bridegroom lived together down 



I 



LOCH LOMOND. 209 



Invitation to the wedding. The wedding party. 

the lake, on this side, and the minister some miles down 
the other. The minister was to come up to a Httle inn 
across the water, and the bridal party were to come up 
and cross in boats, thus meeting the minister halfway. 
With a little encouragement on our part, the guide 
gave us an invitation to go to the wedding. The Low- 
lander afterward made some inquiries at the inn, and 
found that there would be nothing unusual or improper 
in our accepting the invitation. So we ordered an 
early dinner as soon as we arrived at the inn, and pre- 
pared ourselves to join the wedding party immediately 
afterward. 

We were notified of the approach of the cortege by 
the discharge of a gun. On going out into the yard, 
we found a large party of peasant-like looking men and 
women, all neatly dressed, and standing quietly in the 
road-way which passed behind the inn. They were 
in two groups, the bride being the center of attraction 
in the one, and the bridegroom in the other. The 
" best man" and his assistants were carrying about a 
small waiter with three or four wine-glasses upon it, 
filled with whisky. Each of the company took a glass, 
and drank, sometimes a small part, and sometimes the 
whole ; while the bearer of the waiter continually re- 
plenished the glasses from a bottle which he carried in 
his hand. The whole scene was enlivened now and 
then by the report of the musket, which was borne by 
a young man of seventeen, and discharged from time 
to time, at his discretion. 

The company soon afterward moved toward the 
beach. The bride's party went first, and the bride- 
groom and his company followed at a considerable in- 
terval. Thev embarked in two different boats, placing 

S2 



210 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

Crossing the loch. Dancing reels. 

US, that is, my Lowland companion and myself, in very 
honorable seats, near to the bride. The Lowlander en 
tered with all his heart into the gayety of the occasion, 
talking in their dialect, and in precisely their tone, now 
teazing the bride about " her mon," who was coming 
on, as if in brisk pursuit, in a boat behind, and now at- 
tempting to make a new match between the bridesmaid, 
who was one of the chambermaids of our inn, and 
Donald, the groomsman, our mountain guide. This 
last plan, however, did not seem to succeed ; the brides- 
maid declaring, with a countenance of mingled pleas- 
ure and confusion, that she would not agree to any 
such plan. He endeavored to overcome her objections 
by, " Ye surely canna refuse such a canny lad as he. 
I can recommend him till ye. We ken him weel. He 
guided us up Ben Lomond the morning." 

At length we landed. At a little distance from the 
beach was a building, half ferry-house, half inn, where 
we were to meet the minister. We went into one of 
the rooms of this house, and took our seats in chairs all 
around the sides of it. After a few minutes a fiddler 
came in, and four of the company took their places 
upon the floor to dance a reel. The belles wore their 
bonnets, and the beaux enforced the emphatic passages 
of the music with a loud clapping of hands, and some- 
times with a sort of sudden outcry, which appeared to 
me like any thing but an expression of gayety and joy. 
After the first dance was over, they came to us and 
insisted on our leading off the second reel. On my 
representing to them that I was entirely unacquainted 
with the Scotch dances, being a foreigner, and that, of 
course, I should only throw them into confusion if I at- 
tempted to join them, they kindly excused me, but my 



I 



LOCH LOMOND. 211 



The tacksman. The minister. 



companion took his place at once, and performed his 
part much to their admiration. One after another 
came and sat by me, to gaze upon and praise his per- 
formance ; though I think that his triumph was due in 
part to the Hghtness of his footing, as he was laden 
only with ordinary traveling boots, which appeared 
very light and graceful, in contrast with the heavy, 
iron-guarded shoes of the Highlanders. The dance 
continued for some time, until suddenly an arm, belong- 
ing to somebody outside the house, was thrust in at the 
open window, toward " the musicianer," as they called 
him, with a "Hush! he's coming T The music stop- 
ped. The dancers ran to their seats ; and the roam 
was instantaneously still. This sudden pause, how- 
ever, ended in a burst of laughter, as it proved to be a 
false alarm. The arrival was not that of the minister, 
but of the " tacksman." This is the name given to the 
great farming tenant, who leases the land from the 
ducal proprietor, and employs the shepherds and labor- 
ers to tend his flocks and herds that graze upon it. 
The tacksman remained outside, talking with those 
who were there, and so the dancing was resumed. 

The minister came at last, and he and the tacks- 
man entered together. The marriage ceremony was 
performed, and the whisky was passed around again, 
being offered first to the minister and the tacksman, 
and then to us. The minister then called for the mu- 
sic and dancing to be resumed. I introduced myself 
to him, and he, appearing pleased to know personally 
one whom, as he said, he had long known by name, 
introduced me to the tacksman. We three, thence- 
forth, formed a little party by ourselves, and sat to- 
gether and talked about the manners and customs of 



212 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

Gaelic songs. The return. « i 

our respective countries while the dance went on.' 
They varied the entertainment by singing at intervals 
Gaelic songs, with strange, old Highland ceremonies. 

The minister and the tacksman left us before long to 
return down the shore of the loch ; but my compan- 
ion and myself, being obliged to go back by the boats, 
had to wait till the bridal party were ready to return. 
When the hour arrived it was after nine o'clock. The 
evening twilight was far advanced, and the broad sides 
of the mountains were dark and somber. The water 
was ruffled by a fresh evening breeze. Our company 
was full large enough for the boats ; and as they had 
all been drinking whisky for three hours, as it seemed 
to me almost incessantly, I thought I perceived some 
expression of solicitude upon the countenances of one 
or two, who seemed to have, or, perhaps, rather to as- 
sume, the charge of the expedition on the return. One 
boat, after being filled, with much noise and clamor 
pushed off over the swell, rolling somewhat unsteadily 
with its heavy burden. We were taking our places 
in the other, to follow them. The oarsmen were impa- 
tient, being ambitious to overtake the other boat, while 
the passengers looked anxious and uneasy, apparently 
afraid of the consequences of a race under such circum- 
stances. The young man who had assumed the com- 
mand of the boat came to the stern, where I had taken 
my seat with the bride and the guests, and endeavored 
to restrain the eagerness of the rowers by calling out 
to them, as we pushed away from the pier, 

" Canny, Angus ! canny, Donald !" (Canny means 
quiet, steady). " Canny, canny ! tak y'r time; there is 
nae hurry in the wark." 

Angus was a strong, athletic young man, who pulled 




V,VV 



15 






\;-'ii'r 



LOCH LOMOND. 215 



Canny, Angus. Conversation. Landing. 

one of the forward oars, and was very eager to over- 
take the boat before us, which was now dimly seen at 
a distance, through the twihght, upon the dark water. 
The entreaties of the hehnsman had, however, but Ut- 
ile influence in restraining his impatience ; so it was 
" Canny, Angus ! canny, Donald ! tak y'r time !" all the 
way across, these exclamations alternating with jokes 
and laughter shared with the bridal party around him, 
or good-natured conversation with me. 

" And wad ye recommend to me to gang to Amer- 
iky ?" said he. " When I turn ould, like this man" — 
pointing to an old patriarch on one of the thwarts near 
us, the father or grandfather of half the party — " wad 
I be independent like ? Canny, Angus ! canny, canny ! 
tak y'r time." 

" I think," I replied, " that a man who goes to Amer- 
ica makes often a great sacrifice of comfort and of feel- 
ing for himself, but it is better for his children." 

This sentiment was received with expressions of 
very hearty concurrence all around me. It was, "Ah, 
there ye'r varry right ;" and " Ay, it's joost that," end- 
ing always with "Canny, Angus ! canny, canny ! ye'r 
pulling her head all aroond. Look afore ye, and see 
where ye are ganging." 

We arrived safely at last, and landed on the little 
pier, or jetty, projecting from the beach in the little 
bay. There had been an arrival at the inn, by which 
it had been filled unusually full. Every place where 
a bed could be made up was occupied, and a large 
family party were taking supper in the only public 
room. Every body was speaking for one of the four 
ponies belonging to the inn, to ascend the mountain in 
the morning. Those who had not been early enough 



216 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 



Scene at the inn. A storm. Debates and consultations. 

in their applications were disappointed and vexed, as 
the prospect was unusually promising for a pleasant 
morning ; and they were calculating and debating the 
question whether a second party could ascend, after 
the first should have returned, and yet be in time to 
take the steamer. Groups of travelers discussed all 
these and other plans, and talked of their various in- 
tended tours, seated in each other's bed-rooms, or stand- 
ing on the door-steps, or in the court-yards of the inn. 
The groups of the bridal party, in the mean time, re- 
mained in the road, passing round the whisky to all 
who would drink it, and firing the gun. At ten o'clock 
they disappeared, and the weary travelers in the inn 
went to bed, with heads full of mountain excursions to 
be made on the morrow, the plans all entangled, con- 
flicting, and impossible. When the morning arrived, 
however, the questions were all settled in a very sum- 
mary manner. Not a mountain was to be seen ; driv- 
ing mists hid every thing from view. A heavy gale 
of wind was blowing up the loch, bringing with it al- 
most incessant showers of pouring rain. The enthusi- 
asm for ascending the mountains was universally chang- 
ed into an impatience, scarcely less eager, to get on 
board the steamer and be taken away to some new 
scene. The sky brightened toward noon, but it made 
no change in this desire. We stood upon the steps of 
the door, talking about our various routes. Among the 
others there was a minister going to assist his brother 
minister, in a distant glen, to administer the communion. 
It seems that this ceremony is performed in each par- 
ish but once a year, and then it is the signal for a gen- 
eral gathering from all the region around. On such oc- 
casions the neighboring pastors come to render assist- 



LOCH LOMOND. 217 



The minister in a dilemma. Embarkation. 

ance. The minister, in this case, was hesitating wheth- 
er to go on foot across the mountains by a short road, 
or to go up the lake a few miles by the steamer, to a 
landing where he would find a more open road, and 
some sort of conveyance. He was asking the inn- 
keepers advice on the subject, and received for his 
reply, 

" It is na for ye to cross the hills the day. If it had 
been a fine day it wad hae been much shorter for ye ; 
but the moss is very wet the day, and there are some 
burns to cross, which will be swelled wi' the rain." 

Notwithstanding this advice, the minister oftered to 
try the rugged road, if I would accompany him. This 
proposal I was very reluctantly compelled to decline, 
having cut my boots to pieces by rambling over the 
rocks and mountains, and it was necessary for me to 
make the best of my way out of these solitudes to some 
town where I could replace them. How much more 
independent and free was the peasant girl, my com- 
panion of the previous evening, who could walk through 
the rough mountain passes with feet either covered or 
bare, but all the better if they were bare. 

We were all, accordingly, soon embarked in a little 
boat, and were floating on the swell of the loch at a 
short distance from the shore, waiting for the steamer, 
which was rapidly drifting toward us, her paddles still, 
and her steam-pipe blowing a deafening blast. The 
trunks were hurried on board ; the passengers follow- 
ed. We found ourselves ushered at once into the midst 
of a new company of a hundred tourists, all admiring 
the scenery of the lake, and studying out the localities 
with their guide-books and maps. In twenty minutes 
the scene was changed as suddenly again. We were 

T 



218 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

Buying shoes at a post-office I Glens and lochs. Population. 

disembarked at another inn, on the opposite shore, 
where a glen from the westward opens into Loch 
Lomond, through whose narrow defile the road to In- 
verary finds its way. I bought a pair of Highland 
shoes, the soles studded with iron nails, at the post-of- 
fice ! I rambled two or three hours up and down the 
shores of the lake talking with the cottagers. At three 
o'clock the steamer returned and landed another com- 
pany. We mounted upon the top of the coach, the 
coachman filling up the inside with the baggage. The 
inside of the coach is always held in very low estima- 
tion by tourists among the Scottish Highlands. We as- 
cended a narrow dell, which opened a passage through 
the mountains to the west, and took leave of Loch Lo- 
mond forever. We rode rapidly through glen after 
glen, and wound around the heads of loch after loch, 
which here run up from the sea, the view shut in ev- 
ery where with the broad and lofty slopes of the mount- 
ains, all smooth and green to the summits, the whole 
presenting every where a scene of inexpressible gran- 
deur and beauty, and yet of absolute solitude. 

And yet, solitary as these glens around Loch Lo- 
mond appear, there are three classes of inhabitants dis- 
tinct and very strongly marked. First, there are the 
proprietors, generally noblemen, who possess the land 
in large tracts from ten to fifty miles in extent. There 
is a duke on one side of Loch Lomond and a marquis 
on the other, to whom the rest of the population, tour- 
ists and all, look up as to a species of demigods. They 
live in splendid country seats, in the midst of beautiful 
parks and pleasure grounds. These noblemen gener- 
ally spend the winters in London, and the summers in 
receiving company of their own rank at their estates, 



LOCH LOMOND. 219 



The duke and the marquis. The cotters and shepherdg. Their condition. 

or in visiting at the castles and halls of other grandees. 
Next comes a class of such men as the tacksman, who 
leases a certain portion of the land as a grazing farm, 
the attorney, who transacts the legal business, and the 
clergyman. They perform no manual labor, they dress 
like gentlemen, and have an air of cultivation and re- 
finement in their intercourse with society. They look 
up, however, with a sentiment of the profoundest awe 
to the duke, or to Sir John, and there is a certain sub- 
dued expression in their air and manner, an appearance 
of restraint and studied propriety of demeanor, as if 
they felt all the time that there was somebody above 
them whom they must be careful not to displease. 
They have, however, the opportunity, in their turn, of 
looking down, and they preserve with great tenacious- 
ness the broad line of demarkation which separates 
them, in social position, from those that are below. 
This class consists of the great mass of the cultivators, 
the " cotters," the laborers, the shepherds. They oc- 
cupy a position far below. A large portion of the pro- 
ceeds of their labor goes up to those above them. They 
receive, however, a consideration in return. They are 
free from all that solicitude and care which being a 
principal, as an American laborer is, in owning the 
land he works, always entails. They have nothing to 
do but to go on in their simple labors all their days, 
just as their fathers did before them. They have no 
hope of rising ; but then they have, on the other hand, 
no fear of falling. The rents which the tacksman has 
to pay to the noble proprietor of the soil, from which 
he builds his palaces, and ornaments his grounds, and 
defrays the heavy expenses of his London residence 
and his continental tours, forbid his paying to the la- 



220 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

England and America. The aristocracy. 

borers more than enough for mere food and shelter. 
In a wild and mountainous region like this, in Ameri- 
ca, there will be no ducal residence, no parks, no pleas- 
ant drives, no assemblages of gay and fashionable com- 
pany, but every cultivator of the soil has each his own 
home ; he has floors to his rooms, feathers instead of 
chaff for his bed, glass for his windows, a horse and 
wagon for his drives of business or pleasure, and books 
and newspapers for his winter evenings. Both nations 
are equally proud of their respective systems. The 
Englishman points with triumph to the castle, the parks 
and hunting-grounds, and the splendid equipages of 
one, with a feeling, too, of pride and pleasure, which 
never seems the least alloyed by his being himself ut- 
terly excluded from any share in all this splendor, and 
despises what he calls the dead and monotonous level 
of democracy. The American is proud of the sturdy 
independence and thrift of the thousand ; the intelli- 
gence, the comforts, and the freedom which reign in 
all their homes, and looks with contempt on what he 
calls the useless pomp and parade, and the idle luxury 
of an aristocracy. The Englishman seems to experi- 
ence a feeling of protection and safety in having some- 
body above him to whom he can look up. He enjoys 
the feeling of reverence for a human superior. The 
American, though he will submit to the ills of poverty, 
sickness, and affliction, will not brook any pressure upon 
him by the hand of another man. He takes no pleas- 
ure, therefore, in looking up to aristocratical grandeur ; 
while the Englishman considers such a summit as es- 
sential to the completeness of human society, as its 
glory and its crown. 

Pondering on these thoughts, we rolled on over the 



LOCH LOMOND. 221 



Beautiful shores. Grand defiles. Inverary. 

smooth and level road, along beautiful shores and 
through the grandest defiles, until at length we reached 
the splendid castle of the Duke of Argyle, and his 
beautiful little village of Inverary. 
T 2 



222 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

Conformation of the land. Islands. Picturesque scenery. 



LETTER XII. 

STAFFA AND lONA. 

August 21. 

The mountainous confornaation of the land which 
forms the Scottish Highlands does not terminate at the 
sea-shore. It extends, half submerged, far out into the 
Western Ocean, the sea filling the valleys, and sur- 
rounding and isolating the peaks, and ranges, and ele- 
vated tracts which rise above the waves as islands, 
and all of the most picturesque and beautiful forms. 
In studying the Highland scenery of Scotland, there- 
fore, these Western Islands must be included. 

You pass among them, in many cases, through nar- 
row straits and passages, which would have been 
Highland glens were it nor for the intrusion of the sea. 
In other places there are broad bays and sounds, with 
peaks and precipitous masses of land rising here and 
there above the water. Of course, the views are every 
where picturesque and striking. In fact, the islands 
and the Highlands are only parts of one and the same 
great scene of mountains and seas intermingled togeth- 
er, the only difference being that to the westward of a 
certain line the water predominates, and to the east- 
ward the land. 

The larger of these islands contain towns and vil- 
lages, and often a considerable rural population. The 
smaller ones, though they have no human dwellings 
upon them, are still parts of farms, and are inhabited 
by sheep or herds of Highland cattle. The graziers 
bring these cattle to their isolated pastures in great 
flat-boats, and when near the shore they tumble them 



STAFFA AND lONA. 223 

Grouse. The duke and the cotters. Stafia and lona. 

out into the water and let them swim to the land. In 
some of the islands are great tracts of heather, where 
the grouse — birds resembling the partridge — breed, and 
the proprietors come, with some of their friends, in the 
proper season, to shoot them ; in fact, the grouse seem 
to take precedence over man in many cases. Two 
English gentlemen were conversing, in my presence, on 
the subject as we were sailing along the coasts of one 
of the largest of these islands. One of them remarked 
to the other that the population did not increase at all. 
" A large number emigrated not very long since." 
" Why did they emigrate ?" asked the other. " Oh, the 
duke compelled them. He does not want the popula- 
tion to increase. He wants to keep it a quiet, still 
place for his shooting !" However strange this may 
sound in the ears of an American, I assure the reader 
it is considered all very natural and proper in Scotland. 
There are two of these islands which are special ob- 
jects of interest, and are visited as such by tourists from 
all parts of the world. They are situated very near 
each other. One is lona, which was in early times the 
great headquarters and seat of Christianity and of 
learning. There remain upon it, to this day, the ruins 
of a Cathedral, a church, a nunnery, and the monuments 
of a long line of Scottish kings who were buried there. 
The other, a few miles distant from it, is Staffa. Staffa 
is a small island, but high. One end of it is formed of 
an immense congeries of basaltic columns, rising out of 
the sea, and supporting a great bed of rock, which is 
covered above with soil and vegetation. Among these 
columns is a cavern several hundred feet in length, 
whose sides are composed of the columns, and whose 
floor is formed of the boiling surges of the sea. These 



224 BUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

ObaJi. A new party. The " car." 

two islands are but a few miles distant from each other, 
and are usually visited on the same excursion. They 
are both small, and they lie about fifty miles from the 
shore, with larger and more mountainous islands be- 
tween. 

The rendezvous for tourists in making this excursion, 
and, in fact, for the steamers passing up and down the 
western coast of Scotland, is Oban, a little town of 
white cottages, built under the cliffs, around a small, 
but very picturesque and beautiful bay. We came to 
Oban from the interior about sunset on a very pleasant 
day. My party had changed. I had fallen in with 
some professional gentlemen from London and Edin- 
burgh, and we had combined to take a car, as it is 
called — a vehicle like a New York cab, without a top. 
It is not specially comfortable to ride in, but is ex- 
tremely convenient for conversation, as the passengers 
all face together, two on each side, omnibus fashion ; 
and fine, also, for seeing the country and taking the 
showers, as it is entirely open on all sides. 

In this vehicle we had traveled on through glen aft- 
er glen, and along the shores of wild lochs, where we 
had a low parapet wall between us and the water on 
one side, and dark, precipitous mountains on the other. 
At length one of these lochs widened into an estuary, 
ornamented with beautiful islands and bold shores. We 
met little parties of tourists, some carrying fishing ap- 
paratus, some port-folios for sketching, and some attend- 
ed by a servant in livery, all indicating our approach 
to an inn. A few minutes afterward we wheeled down 
into a town, which we found occupying a very roman- 
tic and picturesque situation. There was a small bay 
surrounded by cliffs and steep green hills, which left 



STAFFA AND lONA. 225 



Harbor of Oban. Streets. Battery. Crowded inn. 

only a narrow space between them and the beach. 
Toward the sea huge islands intercepted the view, 
among which the eye wandered instinctively in search 
for the passage by which the vessels at anchor inside 
had entered or could get away. A long pier project- 
ed into the water, two large steamers, with bright-red 
chimneys, being moored at the end of it, and another 
just coming up, and blowing off her steam. A street 
passed around the shore of the bay, with a perpendic- 
ular wall toward the water. Below the wall was a 
beach, left dry by the retiring tide. On the opposite 
side of the street were long blocks of whitewashed 
houses, two stories high, facing the water. These 
blocks were not continuous, but were interrupted at 
several points by roads diverging into the country, by 
an avenue leading to a little church, perched under the 
cliffs behind the town, and by a stream which issued 
forth from a narrow dell, and emptied into the bay un- 
der an ancient bridge. On the brow of one hill, over- 
hanging the town, a small battery had been formed ot 
turf, with canon at the embrasures, ready to salute the 
royal yacht which is expected to enter the harbor next 
week with the queen and Prince Albert on board. All 
this was Oban. 

The inn was very full, and, of course, the accommo- 
dations very contracted for any new arrival. Always 
glad of a plausible excuse for leaving public resorts 
and getting behind the scenes of ordinary daily life, 1 
set off the next morning on a ramble through the vil- 
lage to look out for private lodgings. I selected one 
at last, the humblest that I could find consistently with 
securing certain comforts absolutely essential. The 
apartment was a back room behind a shop. It was 



226 BUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

Lodgings. The clock. The landlady. 

usually the family room of the occupants of the shop, 
or store, as it would have been called in America ; but, 
when the inn was full, they were accustomed to let it 
to travelers, bestowing themselves, while their guests 
remained, in what seemed to me very restricted quar- 
ters in the shop itself, which, though very small, is di- 
vided, on such occasions, into bed-room, sitting-room, 
shop, and kitchen, by means of partitions made of high 
furniture and curtains. In my room in the rear, where 
I write this description, every thing is plain, but very 
neat and comfortable. The floor, though it has a 
carpet upon it, feels very solid under the feet, being 
of stone. The walls are also of stone, but are neatly 
whitewashed. There is a fire-place, with a little grate 
for peat or coal, and a clock without a case, which 
ticks loudly at the head of my bed, and strikes the 
hours with great distinctness and fidelity, though, to 
my great joy, the first night that I slept there it ran 
down a little past midnight. The good lady apolo- 
gized in the morning for not having wound it up, and 
did not forget again ; so I have been accustomed, when 
I go to bed, to relieve it from duty during the night by 
gently lifting the weight and setting it on the table, and 
thus both the clock and myself sleep together until the 
morning. There is a small shelf of books, all in the 
Gaelic language, attached to the wall in the corner, 
and a table in the middle of the room, where I write 
my letters and take my breakfast and tea ; and all the 
time that I am at home I am the object of my landla- 
dy's constant and truly maternal care. 

Toward the evening of the day on which I got es- 
tablished in these quarters, a crier came through the 
village ringing his bell, and announcing the steam-boat 



I 



STAFFA AND ZONA. 227 

The crier. Departure. The pier. The eteamei-. 

arrangements for the following day, calling out, with 
loud vociferation, and with many pauses for breath, 
that at seven o'clock such a steamer would leave 
Oban for Fort William and Dorpach, points far to the 
north ; that at eight o'clock another would set sail for 
Staffa and lona, to return in the evening ; and then at 
nine a third would depart for Greenock and Glasgow, 
by way of the Crinan Canal. 

I took my breakfast the next morning at seven, and 
then sallied forth to embark for StafFa and lona, my 
good landlady having reported favorably in regard to 
the prospects of the weather, upon which she had made 
very close observations at an early hour. She put a 
small paper parcel in my hand, too, as I went away, 
saying, " I thought ye wad like to tak' a bit 'o biscuit 
wi' ye for the steamer," 

I went to the pier ; I found there the gentlemen who 
had been my traveling companions in the Highland car. 
They had been to StafFa and lona the day before, and 
were now to proceed northward in another steamer, 
which was lying alongside of the one in which my ex- 
cursion was to be made. We bade each other good- 
by, and the two steamers sailed out of the little harbor 
together. 

Our own was a large and handsomely-furnished ves- 
sel. The deck was open, and it had cushioned seats 
around the sides, on which the company were sitting, 
dressed in every variety of costume. There were 
families with their children ; young students with their 
tutors ; older ones in little parties of three or four; and 
young brides with their husbands, the most contented 
and happy of all. A fresh breeze was blowing, and 
our course led us to the south of the great island of 



228 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

Company of tourists. Stone hovels. Approach to lona. 

Mull, where we were exposed to the open sea. As we 
advanced into the swell, guide-books and maps were 
gradually laid aside; conversation ceased, and a large 
part of the company were soon extended on the seats 
or on the deck, or upon the sofas in an elegant cabin 
below, pale and wi-etched, wishing, probably, that they 
had been contented with such scenery and ruins as 
were to be seen without leaving the shore. 

After some hours we came to narrower waters, 
where we were somewhat under the lee of the land. 
The company recovered their vivacity and spirits, and 
soon marshaled themselves along the deck to gaze upon 
the approaching shores of lona. We sailed along a 
range of low, rocky points, with patches of white, sandy 
beach intervening. A little way back from the water 
was a long, straight row of stone hovels, the walls brown 
and mossy with age, the roofs thatched and overgrown 
with grass and weeds. There was a company of la- 
borers picking busily upon one of the ragged ledg- 
es which projected into the water, in the apparently 
vain attempt to fashion it into a pier, there being at 
present no landing-place except upon slippery rocks 
and among boiling surges. Upon one of the small, 
white, sandy beaches stood a great crowd of girls and 
boys, holding something carefully in their hands, though 
the distance was too great to allow us to see what. 
Two great boats were seen pushing off from the shore, 
evidently with the design of taking the passengers from 
the steamer. The land ascended gradually behind the 
huts already described, to a range of low, green hills, 
covered with heather, from among which great ledges 
of rocks peeped out every where. At each end of the 
long row of huts was a mass of ruins ; but there was 



STAFFA AND lONA. 229 

Landing at lona. Boats in the surf. Rocks and sea-weed. 

nothing in the least degree picturesque or alluring in 
the aspect which they presented ; in fact, the whole 
scene was one of gloomy barrenness, wretchedness, 
and desolation. And yet this was the point from which 
the light of Christianity, civilization, and learning spread 
over all the land. 

The steamer stopped, and the boats came alongside, 
plunging fearfully in the swell which rolled along the 
steamer's sides. The passengers clambered into them 
by means of a sort of step-ladder let down the side, 
though with much difficulty and delay, on account of 
the rising and falling of the boats, and their thumping 
against the foot of the ladder and the guards of the 
paddle-boxes, which all the exertions of the seamen 
could not wholly prevent. At length we were all em- 
barked, twenty-five or thirty in each boat, and the row- 
ers began to pull for the land. As we approached the 
shore the boat rose and fell with the waves, which were 
beating in upon the rocks in such a manner as to make 
it appear very doubtful how we were to land. The 
oarsmen hesitated, and, resting upon their oars, looked 
anxiously along the line of foaming surges which were 
rolling in upon the shore. At length they turned and 
pushed toward a point of rocks which made out into 
the waves, the boat rising and falling fearfully with 
its heavy burden, and the spray dashing over the bows, 
and breaking violently among the blades of the oars. 
At length we reached the rocks ; they were covered 
with sea-weed. As we touched, two of the boatmen 
sprang out into the water, and endeavored to steady 
the boat by holding its bows so as to ease it as much 
as possible in its thumps upon the rocky ledges, and 
called upon the passengers to scramble out as quick as 

U 



SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 



Children, " These for six pence," etc. Buying souvenirs, 

possible. There was nothing to stand upon but the 
wet and slimy sea-weed, and we had a long distance 
to walk upon these slippery ways before we came to 
any firmer footing. Over this treacherous surface the 
company slowly and cautiously advanced, the seas 
surging continually in through the channels among the 
rocks, terrifying the ladies, who were perched very 
unstably on the prominences, which they surrounded 
and threatened to overwhelm, and submerging the feet 
of the gentlemen, who stood incautiously or gallantly 
in the depressions and hollows. 

In the mean time, the crowd of children who had 
been waiting for us on the beach, when they found that 
our course was diverted, and that we were to land upon 
the rocks, came scrambling round to meet us, each with 
a plate or saucer filled with various colored pebbles, 
which they had collected on the beach, and which they 
wished us to buy ; so that while we were all earnest- 
ly engaged in helping the ladies and one another along, 
and staggering about to avoid the streams which still, 
even at this distance from our landing, came pouring 
up about our feet, these children crowded eagerly 
around us and in our way, holding the plates and sau- 
cers before us, and calling out the prices of their re- 
spective collections. " All these for six pence !" " Four 
pence !" " Eight pence !" " Two pence !" " These 
for four pence 1" They were the wildest-looking set 
of savages I had seen, except the boys in the New- 
castle colliery, and they wanted us to buy their col- 
lections as souvenirs of our visit to lona ! 

We soon advanced to where the rocks were bare 
and dry, which was a great improvement in respect to 
our footing. Soon afterward we reached the sand. 



STAFFA AND lONA. 231 

Fairly ashore. A little Bable. The ruins. Tomb-stones. 

Here our party collected together, the other boat hav- 
ing landed its portion in the mean time. A conductor 
took us in charge to show us the ruins. We walked 
along a sort of road in front of the huts, the children 
thronging around us and before us, with the most eager 
importunity, all the way. If any one of the party 
showed the least inclination to buy, he was immedi- 
ately overwhelmed and confounded by the multitude of 
plates and saucers which were instantaneously thrust 
before him, and by the clamors of the little sellers, each 
urging him to " buy mine," " buy mine." With such a 
multitude of offers, and in the confusion of the sounds 
of " Six pence 1" " Four pence !" " These for two 
pence !" " Buy mine !" " Buy mine !" it was impos- 
sible to decide upon any thing ; and while the poor 
purchaser stood perplexed and confused, the party 
moved on, so that he had soon to break away from the 
little troop about him, and hurry on without closing a 
bargain with any of them. 

We at length reached the ruins. The grounds were 
inclosed by an ancient wall, in which was an iron gate, 
which our guide opened with a key ; and the whole 
party, fifty genteel tourists, full of wonder and curios- 
ity, and fifty ragged and half-naked children, with 
plates and saucers of pebbles in their hands, followed 
him in. The guide, however, drove the children back 
and locked the gate against them, while we went 
scrambling over the tomb-stones, which covered the 
whole ground like a pavement, all most curiously 
sculptured and carved. Our conductor hastened us 
forward, saying that only an hour was allowed for the 
whole excursion, and that we would look at these mon- 
uments and tomb-stones on our return. We accord- 



232 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 



The cloisters. The chapter-house. The church-yard. 



ingly went on, and entered at length a sort of inclosure^ 
surrounded by ruined arches and walls, which the guide 
informed us were the cloisters. From this scene we 
were ushered into a gloomy, roofless room, with eight 
niches about the walls, which we were told was the 
chapter-house, that is, the room where the ecclesiastical 
authorities of the establishment held their meetings 
and transacted their affairs. From this room we went 
into the Cathedral itself. It had all the parts and ap- 
purtenances of a modern minster, but on a very small 
scale, and of extremely rude execution. Effigies were 
cut in the walls and on the stones of the pavements, 
and there were innumerable inscriptions in ancient 
characters, and in the Latin tongue, half obliterated by 
time. The whole building was of very small dimen- 
sions, and the stones of which the walls were compos- 
ed were of all colors, sizes, and shapes, cobbles and 
slates being mixed and alternated with each other in 
the utmost disorder. There was nothing in the whole 
which a modern builder could approve except the 
mortar ; this, however, had been extremely faithful to 
its trust, as was evident by its having held together 
such materials for so long a time. 

We passed out into the church-yard again. It seems 
that nobles and kings, in those days as well as now, 
however they might have lived, liked to repose at last 
in consecrated ground ; seekii.g a useless refuge foi 
their lifeless bodies in the sanctuaries of Christianity, 
after having, through life, rejected the true salvation 
which she had oflfered to the living soul. Thus, as this 
Cathedral was for so long a time the chief seat and 
sanctuary of the Christian Church, its yard was, for 
many years, a royal burying-ground. The guide told 



STAFFA AND lONA. 233 



Royal graves. Progress of decay. Ancient cross. 

US that forty-five kings of Scotland were lying beneath 
our feet. I thought the company trampled very irrev- 
erently upon the royal graves. The stones lay flat 
upon the ground, and v^^ere carved and sculptured very 
curiously, being covered with every conceivable quaint 
effigy and device. 

I took an opportunity to question the guide in regard 
to the progress of decay upon the ruins. He said that 
they were crumbling slowly, but did not sensibly 
change from year to year. He had been acquainted 
with the ruins for forty years, and, judging from the 
changes which he had witnessed during that time, he 
thought " the great square tower" would stand for ja. 
century to come. Perhaps it may, though as to the 
monumental carvings and inscriptions on the tomb- 
stones, which were lying every where around, it seem- 
ed to me that they must be pretty effectually oblitera- 
ted by the footsteps of fifty visitors a day, if they tram- 
pled over the sacred memorials as ruthlessly as we did. 

There is a curious kind of cross which it was the 
custom to erect in this island in ancient days. These 
crosses were cut from a single block of stone, and cov- 
ered with sculptured figures and images. It is said 
that great numbers of these crosses were erected, 
though only a few now remain. One, which we saw 
in the church-yai'd, was perhaps ten feet high, and 
stood in a socket cut iii a large block of stone which 
served for a pedestal. It was secured by three iron 
wedges, which the guide pointed out to us, saying that 
the cross " was declining entirely," but that they raised 
it up, and supported it in its place, by order of the Duke 
of Athol. The duke is the proprietor of the island, and, 
consequently, of the ruins. The guide stated to his 
U2 



234 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 



The poor children. Buying pebbles. 



fifty auditoi-s the fact that the cross owed its erect po- 
sition to the interposition of the duke with an air of 
great deference and respect ; and we all looked in si- 
lence upon the little rusty wedges, with a profound sen- 
timent of respect for the aristocratic greatness which 
could accomplish such conservative measures by just 
speaking the word. 

Thus we passed along, following our guide rapidly 
from point to point, and listening to his explanations, 
until at length, before we had completed our survey, 
the bell of the steamer, which had been all this time 
patiently riding at anchor at a little distance from the 
shore, summoned us to return. The children, who had 
been watching us through the bars of the gate- way, 
beset us immediately again, when we issued from it, 
and hovered about us with eager importunities until we 
reached the shore. I bought specimens of some of 
them, and hired others, at half a penny a piece, not to 
ask me to buy any more ; but the spectacle of their 
poverty and wretchedness, their eagerness to sell their 
little treasures, the roughness with which they were 
repulsed, and their looks of mournful disappointment, 
gave me, on the whole, far more of pain than the view 
of all the ruins afforded of pleasure. From among my 
purchases, I brought only a single specimen away. It 
was a pebble of quartz, green and transparent, a vari- 
ety peculiar to the island. I thought it would cut well 
for a seal, and I meant to preserve it as a souvenir of 
the ruins of lona. It proves, however, to be only a 
souvenir of the misery and destitution of the poor 
wretches whose pebbles I did not buy. 

The thoughts and feelings which one might imagine 
would be experienced in visiting this ancient seat and 



STAFFA AND lONA. 235 

Recollections of lona. Mode of visiting it. Return to the steamer. 

center of piety and learning, are very feebly awakened 
under the circumstances in which we see it. If one 
could be there alone, with an inn at hand, from which 
he could make repeated visits to the ruins in silence 
and solitude, and could read, on the spot, the histories 
of the times when the institutions of which they were 
the seat were in their glory, he would experience, no 
doubt, strong emotions of interest and pleasure. But 
to go, as visitors must generally go now ; to arrive in 
an elegant modern steam-boat in company with a large 
party of fashionable strangers; to find yourself suddenly 
and unexpectedly crowded into a boat, and thumping 
on the rocks in the swell, and then staggering along to 
gain the shore over the slippery sea- weed, in the midst 
of a crowd of scramblers who fill the air with their 
shouts of laughter or exclamations of fear ; to be hur- 
ried along from ruin to ruin, listening, with fifty others, 
to the brief explanations of a guide ; and, finally, to be 
hurried back by the tolling of your steam-boat bell ; in 
such a visit there is no time for thought, and no oppor- 
tunity for any other emotion than a sort of bewildering 
wonder. When it is over, you look back upon it as 
upon some strange, wild fancy of sleep, and can hardly 
tell whether you have really seen lona, or have been 
haunted by specter children hovering over a gloomy 
ruin, in a dream. 

We clambered back to the boats, and were rowed 
with infinite difficulty to the steamer's side, and after 
a while, one after another, we clambered up the stairs 
again and regained the deck. The anchor was up by 
the time we were on board, and we were off at full 
speed for Staffa. Staffa lies north of lona, about five 
miles distant. The sea on every hand was covered 



236 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

Approach to Staffa. The surf. The boats. 

with islands of every picturesque form, rising like 
mountains and cliffs out of the sea. Staffa, when it 
first came distantly into view, was distinguished from 
the rest by having one of its sides exactly perpendicu- 
lar, as if it had been cut down artificially to the wa- 
ter's edge. The wind had increased, and we found, as 
we approached, that this island was more open in sit- 
uation than lona, and more exposed to the swell ; in 
fact, it very often happens that passengers can not 
land, for the shore is rocky on every side, and there is 
no part at all protected from the waves. The surf 
was rolling in now with a violence just within the limit 
rendering it possible to land. Some of the company 
chose not to venture. The rest clambered down into 
the boats, and the oarsmen pulled for the shore. 

We were loaded heavily, and, as the boats rose and 
fell upon the billows more and more the nearer we 
came to the shore, the oarsmen paused, and seemed to 
shrink from the attempt to land. They hesitated for 
some time, surveying the coast to find the best place 
for a trial. Our boat, which was the foremost, at 
length made for a line of the shore where there was a 
range of rocks rounded off toward the sea, and form- 
ing a sort of natural platform, or pier. I happened my- 
self to be at the bows, and leaped ashore, with two of 
the boatmen, the moment the boat touched. I climbed 
up upon the rocks, while the boatmen grasped the boat 
to keep her off. They were immediately half sub- 
merged by a swelling wave,* which rolled in around 
them, and dashed the boat forward, and would have 
fixed the bows upon the rocks, leaving the stern, with 
its heavy load of passengers, to sink in the foaming 



See Frontispiece. 



I 



BTAFPA AND lONA. 237 

A critical situation. Danger escaped. 

surges behind, had they not pushed her off with all their 
force, so that, as the wave fell, the bow descended with 
the rest of the boat, grinding its way down upon the 
ragged rocks. Immediately the men had to change 
their action, and exert all their force in holding the 
boat to the shore, instead of keeping her from it, or she 
would have been carried away from them by the re- 
tiring wave. This operation was repeated two or three 
times, the thumping and grinding of the boat, as she 
rose and fell four or five feet perpendicularly, being 
altogether too great to allow the passengers to land. 
The two men then gave up the attempt. They leaped 
back into the boat and pushed her off, directing me to 
walk up the island, while they should coast along and 
endeavor to find some better place to land. 

I thought my own position on shore safer than that 
of my fellow-passengers on board, as such a boat, load- 
ed with twenty or thirty men and women, has a mo- 
mentum and force in its plunges in the surf which it is 
very difficult for two boatmen, standing on slippery 
rocks, and half submerged in the swell, to control. If 
it had been allowed to come up to the rocks broadside 
to it would have rolled over and over like a log in 
going down with the wave. The safety of all on board 
depended on bringing it up with the stem, or stern, pre- 
sented to the rocks, and then, by the greatest exertion, 
to prevent its being caught upon them. While doing 
this the men were in imminent danger, as I thought, of 
being crushed between the boat and the rocks, or wash- 
ed off into the sea, the waves coming up around them 
waist high. 

I climbed up the cliffs, and the boat cruised along 
the shore, joined soon by the other boat, which now 



238 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

Top of the island. Stairway. Basaltic column. 

drew near, and the company contrived, some how or 
other, to get at last all to land. The parties from the 
boats ascended the rocks, and we all set out together to 
walk toward the famous cavern. 

The island is three quarters of a mile long, and is 
bordered by perpendicular cliffs on almost all sides to- 
ward the sea. On the top is a tract of tolerably lev* 
el grass land, which is tenanted by a herd of cattlel 
These cattle came up in a body, and gazed at us ill 
mute astonishment until we had passed by. When we 
arrived at the southern extremity of the island, we ad- 
vanced toward the brink of a precipice, without seeing 
how we were to descend, until, on looking over the 
edge, we perceived a very narrow and almost perpen- 
dicular wooden stair-case leading down. It had a slen^ 
der wooden railing on each side. The whole was sup- 
ported and steadied by braces formed by stakes, thti 
lower ends of which were sharpened and driven an 
inch or two into the crevices of the rocks. As we 
looked down we found that the shore below was form- 
ed of the upper ends of columns rising out of the wa^ 
ter. Here was also a low, conical island near the 
shore, formed, likewise, of such columns. Between 
this island and the foot of the precipice, directly be^ 
neath our feet, was a long, narrow passage, with the* 
sea rolling and roaring through it, as if eager to swal- 
low us up if we should attempt to descend. 

The passengers followed one another down the stair- 
way, clinging desperately to the railing. At the bot- 
tom we found ourselves landed upon a very extraordi- 
nary surface of rocks, formed by the upper ends oi 
broken columns, black and smooth like well-worn cast 
iron. They were all even and flat at the upper ends;: 



STAFFA AND lONA. 239 



Tops of the columns. The cavern. Entrance. Ropes. 

but, being of different lengths, they formed steps, by 
which we could descend easily to the water's edge, or 
ascend to the foot of the cliffs. The cliffs were formed 
of tall pillars, clustered closely together, and in some 
places curved inward, as if bending under the weight 
of the mass of rock resting upon them. 

We turned to the left, and walked along upon the 
tops of the columns, with the sea sweeping in tumultu- 
ous swells through the narrow passage between us and 
the island, and dashing up nearly to our feet. At length 
we reached the mouth of the great cavern. On ap- 
proaching the entrance, we found that there were some 
broken columns, the ends being, perhaps, ten feet above 
the water, upon which we could clamber along into the 
arched opening. The footing, however, was very nar- 
row, and we had to step continually up and down, on 
account of the different lengths of the columns over 
which we had to climb. And as the boiling and roar- 
ing surges were dashing in and out through the whole 
length of the cave, as if to frighten us from our attempt, 
it would have been very difficult for us to have entered, 
had it not been for the help of a rope which was pass- 
ed through rings fastened into the rocky pillars. We 
could cling to this rope as we passed along around cor- 
ners and over projections, where otherwise we should 
have h&en in imminent danger of losing our hold, and 
being plunged into the foaming and thundering cal- 
dron below. 

When we were all fairly in the cave, the scene was 
certainly a very striking one. We stood, or, rather, 
clung, fifty of us in a line, half way between the foam- 
ing surges which formed the floor of the cavern and 
the vaulted roof above. Some clung to the ropes in 



240 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 



Reverberarions. Summons to return. 



attitudes of fear ; others sat composed, and with an air 
of unconcern, on the ends of the broken columns ; while 
others still, pushing forward far into the interior, at- 
tempted to awaken the echoes of the cavern by shouts 
and outcries ; though these efforts were almost in vain^ 
for the tremendous roaring of the surges drowned their 
voices, and filled the cavern with a continual thunder. 

One stands in such a scene mute and motionless,; 
having nothing to say and nothing to do, and no wish 
but to be left undisturbed. This wish, however, in our 
case, could not be granted. Our guide soon sent us in 
word that our time had expired ; that the tide was ris- 
ing, making it every moment more and more difficult 
for us to embark. These orders were passed from one 
to another along the line, partly by vociferations and 
gesticulations, the former rendered almost inaudible by 
the thundering reverberations of the cavern. In obe- 
dience to them, our long procession began, according- 
ly, to move out in reverse order, some, however, lin- 
gering in niches and corners while the rest went by. 
We returned to the foot of the stair-case as we came, 
along the edge of the water, on the tops of the broken 
columns, taking care to keep close under the cliffs, to 
avoid the surf which dashed up from the sea. We 
mounted the giddy stair-way, retraced our steps over 
the green pasturage above, and embarked in the boats 
as we had landed, the boatmen and some of the pas 
sengers getting, in the operation, half submerged in the 
swell. 

We returned to Oban by a more northerly route than 
the one we had taken in coming out in the morning. 
It led us through narrow channels and passages, where 
we were protected from the sea. High mountains and 



STAFFA AND lONA. 241 

Thoughts on rain. Scotch fireside. Oatmeal porridge. Horn spoon. 

islands were all around us, their tops enveloped in 
clouds and mists, which gradually thickened and de- 
scended, and at length came sweeping over the water 
in incessant gusts of wind and rain. We were all, 
however, perfectly satisfied with the weather, having 
had smiles and sunshine as long as they were needed ; 
there is, in fact, a sort of feeling of relief and pleasure 
in these latitudes, in having it begin to rain as soon as 
you reach a place of shelter. Good weather is so rare 
and valuable that you can not help feeling something 
like a wish to economize it ; and warmth and sunshine 
which come upon you when you are in a place of 
shelter seem a sort of extravagance and waste, which 
will have to be atoned for by future want. So we wel- 
comed the rain, thinking that it would entitle us to a 
fair and sunny sky when we needed it more. 

I was cold and uncomfortable, however, when I got 
to my room. My motherly landlady built me a peat 
fire in the little grate, and brought me a supper of hot 
oatmeal porridge, apologizing for the spoon with which 
it was served, by saying, " I dinna ken whether ye can- 
eat wi' a horn spoon, but I hae na ither." Her ar- 
rangements, however, simple as they were, needed no 
apology. I drew up the table to the fire, lighted the 
candle, rolled down the curtain, and betook myself to 
my supper and to the horn spoon with a more decided 
sensation of being at home than I had experienced be- 
fore since leaving my own study in my native land. 

X 



242 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 



Ben Macdhu. The clouds. Copaoh. 



LETTER XIII. 

BEN NEVIS. 

August 25. 

Ben Nevis has alv^^ays been considered the highest 
mountain in Scotland. There is another, furthei' in- 
land, called Ben Macdhu, which is very nearly of the 
same elevation ; and measurements by the barometer 
sometimes make one the highest and sometimes the 
other. Ben Nevis, however, rises abruptly from the 
very level of the sea, the tide ebbing and flowing up 
Loch Linhee to its base ; so that, when you have at- 
tained its summit, you look down to greater depths all 
around you than you would from a mountain in the in 
terior of greater absolute height, but resting upon, and 
surrounded by, a tract of elevated land. 

Ben Nevis is said to be always covered with snow, 
or, rather, always to retain snow in the vast chasms 
and under the precipices of the northern side. Its 
summit is certainly almost ahvays enveloped in clouds 
and storms. This circumstance prevents its being oft- 
en ascended. As we approached it, coming up Loch 
Linhee, one sunny morning, its head was, as usual, con 
cealed in mists. All the other mountains ar(^ind us 
were visible ; but Ben Nevis, which we looked for 
anxiously, could not be made out ; we only knew that 
its head was somewhere among the fleecy clouds which 
were floating in that quarter of the sky. 

We landed about noon at a little village adjoining 
Fort William, on the eastern shore of the loch. The 
steamer, after leaving a few of her passengers on the 
pier, proceeded about two miles further, to the head of 



BEN NEVIS. 243 



Fort William. Ascent of the hills. The three valleys. 

the loch, where is the entrance to the Caledonian Ca- 
nal. The village occupied a narrow strip of level land 
along the shore, and there was a mountain range im- 
mediately behind it. After getting established at the 
inn, I found that the clouds were gradually disappear- 
ing from the sky ; and, as it was too late to commence 
the ascent of Ben Nevis that day, I concluded to climb 
up these lower mountains behind the village, in order 
to take a general survey of the surrounding country, 
and in hopes, also, of getting a view of the great peak 
itself, which I knew must be towering beyond them. 

Fort William is at the junction of three great val- 
leys : one, coming up from the south, is filled from side 
to side with the waters of Loch Linhee ; another, ex- 
tending toward the west, is occupied with Loch Eil ; 
and a third, toward the northeast, is the great glen of 
Scotland, extending entirely across the island from 
Fort William to Inverness, and carrying the Caledoni- 
an Canal. The junction of these three valleys forms 
an extensive tract of land and water, level and low, 
which you look down upon from any of the eminences 
in the vicinity. I found, accordingly, as I gradually 
attained a higher and higher elevation, that my view 
of these lochs and tracts of level land was widening 
and extending in every direction.* Below me lay the 
village, with its little pier extending into the water. 
A boat was here and there to be seen, moving slowly 
by its oars over the smooth surface. The whole course 
of the steamer to its landing, two miles above, at the 
entrance to the canal, "U'as in view ; and the little vil- 
lage itself, which is called Corpach, with its white walls 

* The hill here referred to is represented on the right, in the engraving 

of Ben Nevis, a few pages forward. 



244 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

The Caledonian Casal. DeBolata Bcene. 



among the trees, and the red chimney of the steamer 
among the masts at its pier, were visible. I kept a 
careful look-out in this direction, for I had left my guide- 
book on board ; and, as the boat was to come back that 
afternoon, in about two hours from the time I com- 
menced my ascent, I meant to set out on my return as 
soon as I saw her in motion, judging that I could get 
down the mountain in the time which it would take her 
to come two miles over the water. 

From the point where the steamer was lying, I 
could trace the line of the Caledonian Canal for many 
miles through a broad and beautiful valley ornamented 
with trees and villages. Besides the canal, there was 
a river meandering along the meadows, with roads 
accompanying and crossing it. Of course, every half 
hour, as I ascended, brought all these scenes more and 
more directly beneath my feet. 

After ascending for some time, I came to the top of 
a sort of brow of the mountain, with a broad and shal- 
low valley between it and the higher land beyond. Im 
this valley were several ancient-looking stone hutsl 
and ruins of others, and marks of old walls and fields^ 
once cultivated, but now boggy and desolate. The air 
was perfectly calm and still, with a certain state of the 
atmosphere sometimes experienced in a summer's day^ 
when sounds can be heard at a great distance. While 
I was surveying the desolate-looking scene before me, 
I heard voices like those of children, which seemed to 
come from the mountain side. I looked a long time in 
vain before I could discover where these sounds could 
come from. At last I saw, at a great distance, two 
moving figures, barely perceptible, coming down the 
face of the mountain. I went toward them, and met 



*l 



] 



BEN NEVIS. 245 



The little peat-bearers. View of the summit. Beautiful valley. 

them, at length, at the foot of the descent. They were 
two boys, bringing down peat from the top of the 
mountain. The peat was in bags, strapped upon their 
backs, the burden being, in each case, bigger than the 
bearer of it. They staggered along under the weight, 
but stopped when I accosted them, and turned up their 
eyes to me — their loads preventing any motion of the 
head — with a very contented and satisfied look. I 
asked them if they were not loaded too heavily ; and 
they answered, " Ho ! no, sir," in a tone implying great 
confidence in their physical powers. 

I went on, and began to clamber up the steep which 
they had just descended, and found, as I came out at th« 
top of it, a vast summit beyond, rising into view, mark- 
ed by characteristics which declared it to be Ben 
Nevis itself, without any question. It was wild and 
savage in form, and frosted all over with a hoary cov- 
ering, which seemed too gray to be snow, and too white 
for stone. It had that expression of desolate and awful 
majesty with which summits that rise above the limits 
of animal and vegetable life, when you have a near 
and distinct view of them, are always invested. 

When I came fairly out upon the top of the mountain 
which I had been ascending, there gradually came into 
view another scene, equally striking, though of a very 
different character. It was a narrow, deep, and beau- 
tiful valley, lying far below me, between the mountain 
on which I stood and the broad slopes of Ben Nevis 
beyond. The bottom of the valley was green and fer- 
tile, with a little river meandering through it, and a 
road, which appeared here and there like a narrow foot- 
path, and in other places was lost among the trees. 
Little cottages were scattered along among the fields 

X 2 



246 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

Glen Nevis. Top of the mountains. Race with the steamer. 

and gardens, and one quite elegant dwelling, surround-, 
ed by plantations of trees, and approached by hand-|j 
some avenues, was evidently the residence of the laird. 
The beautiful verdure of this glen — which is called Glen 
Nevis — contrasted strongly with the gray and barren 
desolation of Ben Nevis and the neighboring summits. 
[t had a charming expression of peace, and quiet, and , 
plenty, though exposed, apparently, to awfully impendrll 
ing dangers of falling rocks or avalanches from the 
heights above. I could overlook the whole of Glen 
Nevis for many miles, till at last it became lost in ra- 
vines and wooded valleys in the mountains beyond. 

The top of the range where I stood was a broad swell 
of land, covered with peat bogs, morasses, and old ex- 
cavations, filled with black, stagnant water. The range 
terminated suddenly on the north, where it looked to- 
ward a great plain. Thus, by walking around on the 
brow, I could look down on the eastern side into Glen 
Nevis, on the western to the village froin which I had 
ascended, and to the northward into the great valley 
ten miles broad, through which passes the canal. As 
I walked around surveying these scenes, keeping a 
constant watch in the direction from which the steam- 
boat was to come, suddenly the sound of her steam, 
and soon after that of the tolling of her bell, began to 
come to me over the water. I immediately set out on 
my return. The boat came out from the pier, two 
miles distant, and I began a rapid descent. We ar- 
rived at the pier, at the end of half an hour, within half 
a minute of each other. 

The next morning at nine o'clock I set out for the 
a.scent of the mountain. My road led at first up the 



BEN NEVIS. 247 



The bridge. English oiBcer. Steep ascent. 

village, around the northern end of the range which I 
had ascended the day before to the opening into Glen 
Nevis. I set out alone : the guide was to follow me 
with the necessary supplies, and I was to wait for him 
at " the bridge." This bridge, as I found, was one 
across the River Nevis, where it issues from the glen 
in the broad, open valley. I sat upon the parapet and 
talked fifteen minutes with an officer of artillery, who 
had arrived a day or two before with a detachment to 
fire salutes and conduct other military operations in 
honor of the queen at her landing here next week. My 
guide soon came up, and, crossing the bridge, we fol- 
lowed the road for some distance, and at length took, a 
foot-path across a sort of moor, passing by several mis- 
erable-looking shepherd's huts, the land rising gradu- 
ally more and more, until it became as steep as the 
toughest greensward could stand. There was no path 
— nothing but a broad expanse of pasturage ; and no 
footing except the slight inequalities of such a surface; 
and, of course, the labor of the ascent was extreme. 
There was no danger, in fact, because, in case of a mis- 
step, there were roughnesses and inequalities enough 
in the ground to save one from sliding down very far. 
Still, as the grass was slippery, and as at a little dis- 
tance on every side the little inequalities disappeared, 
and the surface looked smooth ; and as there was noth- 
ing growing larger than a brake, to suggest even to 
the imagination the idea of support, ihe falling sensa- 
tion gets to be pretty decided by the time one has as- 
cended five or six hundred feet. The whole height of 
the slope may be eight hundred or a thousand. 

We passed sheep occasionally, grazing quietly ; and 
when about half way up, the guide, who was at some 



248 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

The shepherd and his sheep. Sagacity of the dogs. Magnificent views. 

little distance before me, called out that he could see a 
shepherd above us. It was difficult to look in that di- 
rection, as it required throwing back the head in a man- 
ner which threatened to make one lose his balance, and 
go rolling down the hill. I at length, however, got a 
view of him, a mere moving dot on the surface, whichj 
began to appear more gray toward the summit of the] 
hill. The shepherd went on ascending as we did, and] 
we could occasionally hear the shrill whistle, faint and! 
distant, with which he signaled his orders to his dogs.1 
The shepherds were out that morning to collect the 
sheep for the purpose of separating them from the lambs. 
We kept him in sight for a long time, but at length our 
path diverged from his, and he disappeared from view ; 
though we afterward got a distant view of him de- 
scending, his dog driving the sheep before him. The 
dog would proceed a little way, and then stop and look 
back, and wait for his master, to see whether he was 
right; and, on receiving new orders, would go on again, 
driving his charge to the right or to the left, or direct- 
ly forward, according to the signals given him. 

In about two hours we reached the top of this as- 
cent, and came out upon a great mountain brow, from 
which, on some sides, we had magnificent views of the 
low country around, and on others the land extended 
in broad tracts, from which other mountains arose, as 
from the plain. We wound around the base of a large 
hill,* enjoying the walk on level ground as a luxury. 
The ground, howevejv though level, was far from being 
smooth, and there was no path. In fact, our march 
was a tramp over bogs, mire-holes, and tufts of moss 
and heather, until we came to the shore of a calm and" 

* Where the path disappears from view in tlie engraving. 



BEN NEVIS. 251 



The hanging lake. Second slope. Stone slides. 

placid little lake under the hill above alluded to. Its 
shores were lov^ and green, without a tree, or even a 
shrub, upon the margin. It seemed, too, to rest very 
insecurely there, for the land fell off suddenly a thou- 
sand feet, at a little distance from each end of it, and 
with scarcely any rising ground between. Yet there 
the little loch has laid, perched between the heavens 
and the earth, for four thousand years ; and it holds 
its place for the future by as secure a tenure as any 
thing beneath the sun. 

We stepped over a brisk little brook which issued 
from the northern end of the loch, and looked toward 
an enormous gray mountain rising before us, which. I 
said to the guide I supposed was Ben Nevis. " Oh, 
no," said he, " Ben Nevis is not in sight yet. It is be- 
yond that peak entirely." " How far ?" asked I. *' About 
two miles." He said, moreover, that the eminences 
which we had yet to ascend were steeper and harder 
than the first. Somewhat discouraged by this account, 
I advanced with him to the foot of the second mount- 
ain. This proved to be not more steep, and it certain- 
ly was not more difficult than the first. The whole 
side of it was formed of slides of loose stones, which 
looked like sand and gravel, when we looked up to 
them from below, but which proved, when we reached 
them, to be formed of angular rocks, from the size of a 
man's head to that of a barrel. They were all loose 
and in a sliding condition ; and if one a little less an- 
gular than the rest were set in motion, it would roll a 
great way down the declivity, carrying sometimes a 
mass of smaller fragments in its train. Sometimes, 
too, the stones on which we stepped would start down 
a little, suggesting the question to the clamberer what 



252 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

The debris. Shepherd in the kilt. Highland dress. 



would become of him in case of a general slide. There 
was, however, obviously no real danger of this, as ev- 
ery thing indicated that the only motion to which this 
species oi debris was subject must be a slow, grinding 
descent, from the influence of frost and snow, and, per-. 
haps, of mountain torrents in the winter and spring. ; 
In fact, the stones very seldom moved, but gave us, 
by dint of a little care in selection, a square and stable 
footing, much more satisfactory than the slippery slope 
of the grass on the side of the mountain below. There 
were patches of green here and there on the lower 
portions of this second ascent, on the upper part of one 
of which the guide pointed out to me another shepherd 
coming down the rocks, "And I think," said he, "it 
will be the kilt that this one has got on." The kilt is 
a sort of apron, or frock, plaited very full, and coming 
down nearly to the knees. There is a kind of coat or 
jacket worn over it above ; and sometimes shoes and 
stockings, of a peculiar fashion, and having peculiar 
names, are worn too. The boys and young men, how- 
ever, of the common classes, when they wear the High- 
land dress, have nothing but the kilt and jacket. We 
talked about the Highland dress, the guide explaining 
all its parts and peculiarities. He closed by saying, 
" Ye wad think it would be cauld, but when ye are 
ance used to it, it is joost as comfortable as if ye had 
claes on." This dress had gone entirely out of use, 
except on gala occasions, but is now returning a little. 
They are all making a great effort to get fitted up in it 
now in this vicinity, to be ready to receive the queen 
in the old Highland style. But, after all, they do not 
become Highlanders by the transformation. They are 
still Lowland men, with Lowland ideas and pursuits, 



BEN NEVIS. 253 



Clouds. Summit of the second range. Mists. 

assuming the garb of an ancestry whose character and 
habits are forever gone. 

There had been all the morning floating clouds in 
various parts of the sky, and we had been gradually 
getting nearer and nearer into their neighborhood, but 
thus far there had been nothing to intercept the view. 
We were continually opening vistas into new valleys ; 
and summits and ranges, which we had been looking 
up to, were brought, one by one, below our horizon. 
We had stopped occasionally at mountain streams for 
rest and a drink, and to let the guide light his pipe ; 
and thus, in four hours from the time of leaving our 
inn, we reached the summit of the second great eleva- 
tion on our way ; and as we gradually came around 
the great shoulder which we had been ascending 
obliquely, where we should have come in view of the 
highest summit, we saw that we were rapidly drawing 
near to the under surface of a great fleecy cloud, which 
was slowly floating along the sky. Moving masses of 
mist were beginning to intercept the view of rocky 
slopes and glens above and beyond us. The guide 
looked about doubtfully. He was "sorry to see the 
mist." It was dangerous to attempt the last part of the 
ascent in a " dark mist," on account of the precipices 
which one was constantly coming upon suddenly and 
unawares. I told him we would go on for the present, 
at any rate ; when he said, after standing a moment in 
silence, gazing toward the distant rocks above us, " I 
see a gentleman up there !" " Where ?" asked I. " Yon 
is he, in the mist ; and he's got the wrong road." 

While I was trying to get a sight of the stranger, 
musing, all the time, on the absurdity of speaking of a 
road in a region where I had not seen the least sem- 

Y 



254 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 



I 



A stranger on the mountain. Accouterments. The well. 

blance of a track for miles, the guide gave a long, shrill 
whistle. The stranger stopped, and seemed to be 
looking toward us. He was, however, still so distant 
that we could do nothing more than distinguish a human 
form, and perceive the difference between rest and mo> 
tion. He had taken his seat, however, upon the rocksB 
to await our approach. We got up to him after ten or 
fifteen minutes' laborious climbing. I found, as I ap- 
proached, a gentleman in the dress of a tourist. His 
tartan was strapped to his back, and his spy-glass at his 
side. He was armed with his landlady's coal-hammer, 
which he had borrowed to crack up specimens of por- 
phyry from the summit of the mountain. Upon my 
asking him if he was wandering about at that elevation 
alone, he said yes, that he was accustomed to the mount- 
ains. He set out that morning to find his own way to 
the summit, but having reached his present elevation, 
and finding the summit was in the clouds, he was only 
wandering about to amuse himself, and was about to 
return. 

Among his other apparatus for mountain excursions, 
he had a metal flask, containing a supply of whisky. It 
had a stopper which went on with a screw, and over 
the stopper there was a cover, likewise of metal, which 
shut down half the length of the flask. This cover, 
when taken ofi', served for a cup to drink either the 
whisky or water from the springs. The stranger 
seemed disposed to join us for the remainder of the ex- 
cursion ; and so we all adjourned together to a place 
a little further up, where the guide told us we should 
find a well, called the half-way icell, because it was half 
way from the bottom to the top of the mountain. 

When we arrived at the well, and had taken our 



BEN NEVIS. 255 



Extraordinary scene. Cairns. The sappers. 

seats, we began to look around us upon a very extraor- 
dinary scene. We were upon the side of a gentle de- 
clivity, at a great elevation ; in fact, just upon the under 
edge of a summer cloud, with broad fields of porphy- 
ritic stones, blanched by the rains and snows of twen- 
ty centuries, extending on every side all around us. 
There was no trace of vegetation, except discolored 
spots upon the stones, which botanists would class as 
lichens. The well, as the guide called it, was a hollow 
among these stones, where a subterranean brook made 
its appearance for a moment, and was then lost again, 
though we could hear its gurgling many feet beneath 
the surface, both above and below the well. Two or 
three loose boards, poised upon the stones, answered 
for seats. There was a cairn at a little distance, with 
a pole in the center, and a square plate of rusty iron 
fastened to the top of it. It was placed there by " the 
sappers," probably as a guide to enable them to find 
the well. A detachment of the sappers, a corps of 
the British army, trained to the performance of all sorts 
of mathematical and engineering operations, had had 
a station on this mountain for a long time, to take the 
bearings of a great many other mountain summits, with 
a view to making what is called a trigonametrical sur- 
vey of the whole country. While they were here, men 
were stationed on various other summits, within a cir- 
cle of fifty miles or more, to " reflect to them," as they 
call it ; that is, to reflect the rays of the sun by a mir- 
ror, the light thus produced being visible at a greater 
distance than any other signal. They could see these 
glimmering lights on the distant mountains, and so ob- 
tain the angular distances of each peak from the others 
with great precision. While they were here, they had 



i 



256 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

A dinner on the mountains. The sapper coming down. 

a movable house on the summit, and stores of provi-- 
sions, and a great apparatus of instruments, which it 
required a great deal of labor to transport up and down. 
They had, however, now been gone from Ben Nevis 
some months, leaving only some remaining traces of 
their encampment, and a man to go up, when the weath 
er was favorable, to " reflect to them" at Ben Macdhu 
where they were now encamped. 

It was past twelve o'clock, and we ate the mountain 
dinner, which the guide had brought up, with a muchA 
better appetite than is usual at the more sumptuous re- - 
pasts in the saloon of the steamer on the Atlantic. We 
drank the water of the well from our companion's flask 
cover, and from my quaich, which the guide said was 
" a very bonnie one." After half an hour spent in this 
way, we resumed our march, and went on over the 
stony fields before us up into the cloud. 

We had not proceeded far before our guide, who 
was always on the alert, and who saw every thing be- 
fore we did, called out to us that there was the sapper 
coming down the mountain. We looked before us, 
and saw a red figure among the rocks far above, and 
slowly making its way down. As the man approach- 
ed, we found him to be a soldier-like looking man, in 
the red uniform of the British army. He stopped and 
talked with us for some time, giving us interesting in- 
formation about the operations of his corps, and his opin- 
ion about the prospect of the weather for the day. He 
had left his quarters in the valley at four o'clock that 
morning, and had been waiting on the mountain until 
he had given up all hope of being able to " reflect" to 
Ben Macdhu that day, and was, accordingly, now re- 
turning. He was a fine-looking and intelligent man, 



BEN NEVIS. 257 



ChasmB. Mountain echoes. 

and after spending fifteen minutes very agreeably in 
talking with him, we went on our several ways. 

The ascent from this point was without any difficul- 
ty, though the way was, of course, extremely rough. 
The sappers had raised little piles of stones, at distan- 
ces of a few hundred yards from each other, to mark 
out the way in case of their getting enveloped in thick 
fogs or rain. We followed the line of these little mon- 
uments, ascending continually, with broad fields of gray- 
ish white stones extending on either hand, until the 
view was lost in the mists. At length we came sud- 
denly into view of an enormous chasm, yawning be- 
neath us on the left, and revealing the existence of a 
frightful precipice on that side. We could look down 
a few hundred feet, when the view was obstructed by 
the mists floating along the rocks below. The guide 
took a stone as big as a man's head and threw it down. 
We could hear it crashing, and thundering, and awak- 
ening the mountain echoes so long, that I asked him to 
repeat the experiment while I observed the time by my 
watch. It was, in the case of the second trial, forty- 
five seconds before we ceased to hear the sound, and 
then whether the stone came to its resting-place and 
stopped, or only ceased to be heard on account of the 
distance of its motion, we could not tell. We passed 
afterward several more of these frightful chasms, which 
were great indentations from the precipice into the 
mass of the mountain. Our stranger companion ad- 
vanced toward the brink of one of them, and said that 
he believed he could go down. The guide turned 
away and walked composedly along, saying, " If ye 
suld gang doon there, either by accident or on purpose, 
ye wad never be worth picking up." I ought to say, 
Y2 



258 SUMM.ER IN SCOTLAND. 

The Bumniit. Its surface. High cairn. 

however, in justice to the stranger, that when he sug- 
gested the idea of his descending, it was before we 
rolled the stones down. 

At length we reached the summit. It consisted of a 
very extensive field of stones, wedged together, and 
forming, in general, a tolerably smooth and level sur- 
face, with depressions here and there, which had every 
appearance of the stones having settled together, as if 
by the washing out, or washing away, of what was be- 
low. At the highest part was a monstrous cairn, a sort 
of Tower of Babel, twenty or thirty feet high, and ta- 
pering toward the top. It was laid up very neatly, 
and built in such a manner, with projecting shelves, as 
to make it not difficult to climb to the top. In reach- 
ing the summit of the mountain we had passed up to 
where the atmosphere was serene again, and we had 
now a clear sky and a bright sun over our heads ; so 
that, by climbing up to the top of the cairn, we had all 
around us, far and near, a magnificent prospect of — 
the upper surface of the cloud ! 

The guide seemed very quiet and unconcerned at 
this result ; but our guest, as I may call him — I never 
learned his name — was much disappointed, and was 
continually expressing his vexation. For my part, I 
rather agreed with the guide ; and we sat down by the 
side of the cairn, enjoying the balmy air, the quiet re- 
pose, the stillness, the solitude, and the strange aspect 
of awful desolation which reigned around. We went 
to the brink of the precipice on the north, and traced 
the ragged outlines of the rocks down until they were 
lost in the cloud below. We examined the rocks, and 
selected specimens of the porphyry, and puzzled our- 
selves in vain to account for such an enormous mass 



BEN NEVIS. 259 



Comparative elevation. 



of fragments spreading over such extensive fields, on 
such a summit. We enjoyed the thought of the great 
height which we had attained above the surrounding 
country, though we were prevented from forming any 
very exalted ideas of our elevation, by reflecting that, 
after all our climbing, we were yet not a great deal 
above the level of the bottom of the Valley of Chamou- 
ni, from which travelers cotmnence the ascent of the 
Alps. At length we set out on our return. 

We followed the line marked out by the monuments 
made by the sappers until we returned to the well. 
The attention of the guide was at one time attracted 
by something black among the rocks, at some distance 
above us on the right, which looked, as he said, like 
clothes ; and we stopped while he went to see what it 
was, as there was a bare possibility of its being a hu- 
man being in distress. We watched both him and the 
object which he was going to examine, as he clamber- 
ed up to it, and our imaginations had given it quite dis- 
tinctly the form of a man lying helpless on the stones, 
when we saw him proceed steadily up to it, stoop down, 
and very deliberately pull off its head. He immediate- 
ly turned about and came back toward us, the head in 
his hand. When he came to us he threw down at our 
feet a large mass of a peculiar kind of soft and spongy 
moss, saying, " It is nothing but fog." I put a tuft of 
the " fog" (for that is the name which is given by the 
shepherds to this species of moss) into my pocket, in 
order to press and preserve some sprigs of it, as speci- 
mens of the highest vegetation of Ben Nevis, except the 
lichens on the rocks at the summit. 

We soon came down through the cloud again, so as 
to enjoy extended and magnificent prospects on the 



260 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

Steepness of the descent The loch again. 



S 



under side of it. These prospects were different, to 
from those we had enjoyed in ascending, for the guid 
took us down the mountain by what he called a shorter 
way. It was, indeed, a short way, being one straight 
and uninterrupted chute, from the top to the bottom, 
over four thousand feet. We came down in groins 
and angles of the mountain, and along the brinks of 
fearful ravines cut by the torrents, sometimes over 
rocks, sometimes over loose gravel, and sometimes 
over turf, but always down, down — straight down to- 
ward the bottom of the glen, which, the longer we de- 
scended, seemed to be deeper and deeper below us. 
This continued for two hours. I longed for something 
to change the dreadful monotony of the fatigue of con- 
tinually stepping down such steep declivities. A little 
walk on a level ; a little ascent ; even a turn in the di- 
rection now and then, would have been a relief. It 
seemed as if we should never reach even the level of 
the little loch, which was spread out like a mirror half 
way between us and the valley. This loch we passed 
now on the other side, and without going near to it, 
but keeping it in sight for an hour as we descended 
the steep slope of the mountain beyond its southern 
edge. At last, however, we got into its plane, and could 
almost take sight along the surface of the water, so lit- 
tle did the intervening land rise above its level. 

All this time the fatigue was increased by the great 
caution necessary to effect the descent in safety. The 
guide told us of a man who slipped among the stones 
and fell. He sprained his ankle, and " I had to leave 
him on the rocks, and gang below mysel to bring up 
four of the shepherds to carry him doon." 

" And one of the shepherds, too, was killed here not 



BEN NEVIS. 261 



Tumbling into the bum. Glen Nevia. Crossing the stream. No Inglis. 

lang syne." " How ?" we asked. " Oh, he joost tum- 
bled over into the burrn." A burn is a brook. In this 
case it was a foaming torrent, dashing down the mount- 
ain at the bottom of a ravine, which it had apparently 
furrowed out itself, fifty feet deep, with sides so nearly 
perpendicular that there could have been but one fall 
for the poor shepherd from the top to the bottom. We 
clambered down the rocks along the brink of this fear- 
ful gorge all the more carefully for hearing the story, 
and wished ourselves safely down in the lap of the 
lovely glen, which lay spread out before us far below, 
an enchanting picture of peace, and shelter, and safety. 

We reached, at length, the glen, and sat down to 
rest under the trees on the banks of the river. It was 
two miles now to the inn ; for, by descending so di- 
rectly, we had come down to the level ground at a con- 
siderable distance further from home than the place 
where we had commenced our ascent. The guide car- 
ried me over the river, which was about two feet deep 
and a hundred feet wide, on his back, staggering along 
over the pebble-stones on the bottom, and tumbling me, 
at the end of the ford, against a green bank, up which 
I found it rather hard work to scramble. We walked 
along the smooth and beautiful road by the river side, 
between rows of ancient trees planted by the former 
lairds of Glen Nevis. We passed the laird's house, 
and plenty of stone cottages, and Gaelic peasants at 
work in the fields. Two women at one place were 
washing their chairs and tables in the river; and, on 
my speaking to them, smiled and shook their heads, 
saying, " No Inglis," " No Inglis." 

The guide pointed out to us a green knoll on the 
mountain, which he said was " the vitrified fort ;" an 



262 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 



\ 



Vitiified fort. The laird and the kitten. 

old fort, which was " burned up by a sort of volcanious 
fire from the sky, which turned the stone into cinders 
like, and some of them would float on the wather." 
He also showed us a large boulder of granite by the 
side of the road, and told us a story, which, as a sort 
of specimen of the Highland legends with which these 
valleys are filled, it may be worth while to repeat i 
concluding this narrative of the ascent of Ben Nevis, 



I 



He said he supposed we should be surprised to lear: 
that the laird had refused five pounds for that stone. 
" What did they want it for ?" we asked. " Oh, to split 
up for building ; but the laird," said he, " would not sell 
it for five hundred pounds. The reason was, the former 
laird lost his life in connection with that stone. The 
way was this. He was out fox-hunting, and, when he 
was coming home, he saw a wild-cat on that stone. 
He fired at her, but the shot produced no effect. Then 
he concluded it was a witch. So he took a sixpence* 
out of his pocket and put it into his gun, and prepared 
to fire again. Then the cat spoke to him, and asked 
him not to shoot her ; but he said that he should. Then 
she said, ' If you do, go home and tell the kittens that you 
have killed their mother.' He fired and killed her, and 
then came home and began telling the story about the 
house, and repeating what the cat had said, when one 
of the kittens of the house sprang up and caught him 
by the throat, and before they could take her off, his 
throat was cut so that he died." 

The guide told the story with the most serious coun- 
tenance from beginning to end. 

* Witches can be shot only with a silver ballet. 



THE CALEDONIAN CANAL. 263 

Great Glen of Scotland. Its character. Fissures in ice. 



LETTER XIV. 

THE CALEDONIAN CANAL. 

August 27. 

It would seem as if in primeval ages, when our pres- 
ent continents were formed, some cause had operated 
to open a vast fissure diagonally through the heart of 
Scotland, from northeast to southwest, a fissure extend- 
ing from sea to sea, and cutting off about one third of 
the island from the rest. If we suppose such a fissure 
a hundred miles in length, and from one to three miles 
wide, and then imagine that the rocks from the sides 
fall off and fill up the chasm below unequally, leaving 
long lakes of water in some parts, and forming land in 
others, we shall have a valley precisely similar in char- 
acter to the Great Glen of Scotland, through which 
modern engineers have constructed the Caledonian 
Canal. 

I do not mean to say that there is any reason to sup- 
pose that this remarkable valley was originally a fis- 
sure, although it is not at all improbable, according to 
the views of the geologists, that many glens and valleys, 
and beds of mountain streams, and of long, narrow 
lakes, were formed in this way. Nor is it necessary 
to suppose any violent convulsion of nature to produce 
such fissures. Great cracks form in very thick ice on 
rivers and ponds, by a very slow and insensible shrink- 
iner of the ice on each side. When the ice first forms 
at the surface of the water, it is at a temperature ot 
32°, and it is of the right density to extend from shore 
to shore. As it increases in thickness while the winter 
advances and the cold becomes more intense, the upper 



264 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 



4 



Crevices in glaciers, etc. How formed. 



part shrinks in consequence of the contraction, and 
opens crevices, which grow narrower and narrower 
below, and never extend through to the water. These 
fissures sometimes commence by loud cracking sounds, 
which are heard ringing over the surface in a very 
cold night when the ice gets to be two or three inches 
thick ; but the subsequent widening of the fissures is a 
very slow and gradual process ; so that boys skating 
about one of them all day would not perceive any 
change, although it might be at a time when the open 
ing was undergoing its most rapid enlargement. The 
crevices in the glaciers in Switzerland are formed 
also in a very gradual and imperceptible manner ; and 
cracks open in some kinds of soil, when it is baking in 
the sun, in the same way. Now there is no strong 
presumption against supposing some slow change in 
the strata of rocks of which' the earth is composed, 
which would gradually open such fissures. It is even 
thought possible by the geologists that such changes 
may be now going on, without at all disturbing the in- 
habitants in tilling the soil over the rocks which are 
subject to them. 

I make this supposition, however, of a great fissure, 
not as a geological theory, but only as a mode of im- 
pressing the mind of the reader more distinctly and 
strongly with an idea of the very remarkable charac- 
ter of the straight and narrow valley in question. The 
sea comes into it at each end, under the name of Mur- 
ray Frith, on the northeastern side, and Loch Linhee 
on the southwestern. The lochs that fill the hollows 
along its course are of different lengths and of differ- 
ent elevations, and small streams run from and through 
them each way, frojn the center to the sea. The canal 



THE CALEDONIAN CANAL. 265 

Course of tlie canal. The stage-coach. Morning. 

runs along upon the bank of these streams from loch to 
loch ; but along the lochs themselves the boats sail over 
the natural water. About two thirds of the whole dis- 
tance is upon the lochs, and one third by the artificial 
canal. 

The canal is very broad, and its sides are paved, so 
that it is navigated by steamers. Unless the sides are 
paved, the wash of the waves produced by the paddle- 
wheels soon destroys the banks. There are many 
things which conspire to make the passage by one of 
these steamers highly agreeable. The variety afford- 
ed by the change of scene in passing from canal to loch, 
and from loch to canal ; the wild and mountainous char*- 
acter of the country ; the rude villages ; the ancient 
castles and modern forts ; and the opportunities afford- 
ed, while the steamer is passing the lochs of the canal, 
to take little excursions and walks on the eminences 
around, keep the attention of the traveler all the time 
agreeably occupied. 

We were to start at six o'clock. Six o'clock is a 
very early hour, indeed, at English inns, where ten, and 
sometimes eleven and twelve, are the breakfast hours. 
The coach which was to take us to the landing on the 
canal was to start from another inn a few doors off, and 
an English coach never calls for passengers. The por- 
ter, accordingly, carried my trunk, and I walked to the 
vehicle, which was standing before the inn door. I 
climbed up to my seat upon the top. It was a cool 
and foggy morning, and we waited ten minutes in the 
silent street for some other passengers. At length they 
appeared, and we began our ride of three or four miles 
across the valley. Fort William is upon the south side, 
while the canal comes out to tide water on the north 

Z 



266 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

Ferry-boat Pier. Mountains veiled. 



I 



side of the valley. I had remained at Fort Williarrf 
for convenience of access to Ben Nevis. 

We trotted and cantered briskly along, with a small 
company of passengers, over a smooth graveled road, 
with old gray cottages here and there by the road- 
side, until we arrived at the river. It was a broad 
and shallow stream, running with a velocity of current 
such as barely to allow a ferry-boat to be rowed across. 
The coachman drew up opposite to a broad stone pier, 
which sloped like a pavement down almost to the wa- 
ter's edge, and shouted for the ferry-man. In a mo- 
ment a large, flat boat, pointed, however, at the bows, 
being shaped, in fact, very much like the bowl of a 
shallow spoon, began to move from the pier upon the 
other side. The coachman and his assistants detached 
the horses from the coach, and took them down the 
pier, and also brought down the baggage. The pas- 
sengers assembled there too, and waited in silence in 
the calm morning air, watching the boat as it advanced 
over the glassy water, struggling hard with its oars to 
keep up against the current. The scene around was 
rural and beautiful. The sun was beaming through 
the fog, and the outlines of dark mountains were dim- 
ly seen breaking here and there into view, and appear- 
ing the more lofty and sublime on account of the mists 
and clouds below, by which their connection with the 
earth was veiled. 

We crossed the water, harnessed our horses to a 
sort of omnibus which was waiting for us on the oth- 
er side, and were soon trotting on again as rapidly as 
before. At length we reached the bank of the canal, 
where we found a comfortable steamer awaiting our 
arrival. It was of very moderate size, and the whole 



THE CALEDONIAN CANAL. 267 

Solitude. . Little traffic. Locks and lochs. 

company of passengers did not probably exceed ten. 
The canal was very broad, and all the embankments, 
locks, tow-paths, and basins were finished in a very 
perfect manner ; but an air of solitude reigned over 
the whole. There was a narrow strip of cultivation 
and verdure in the bottom of the valley, through which 
we could see the canal winding its way, following, 
generally, the meanderings of the river, which flowed 
rapidly by its side. Beyond, on either hand, were the 
long ranges of green mountains, with straggling huts 
here and there along the bases of the declivities. 
There were, however, no villages, no busy landings, 
no boats passing and repassing. The whole function 
of the canal seemed to be to transport a dozen tourists 
along the chain of lochs. 

We met, however, during the day two or three oth- 
er steamers, handsomely built and furnished, and well 
provided with passengers, and one or two vessels for 
the transportation of merchandise. After passing one 
of these, which was drawn by three men, we emerged 
from the canal into a loch, long and narrow, and bound- 
ed on each side by the same endless range of smooth, 
green slopes, furrowed by ravines, and clothed with 
heather, a thousand feet high. The fog of the morn- 
ing had risen, and assumed the form of clouds ; and, as 
we sailed along the loch, long lines of these clouds lay 
quietly reposing half way between the shores of the 
loch and the summit of the mountains. 

The highest of the lochs on this line is Loch Oich. 
We occasionally passed through the great gates of a 
lock, ascending continually until we reached this sum- 
mit level, and then began to descend. At the entrance 
to Loch Ness, which is the longet loch of the series, 



268 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

Beautiful view. Fort Augustus. Steamers. 



\ 



there are four locks ; and it so happened, when we ar 
rived, that there were two steamers there before us, 
one of which was to be locked down, and the other to 
be locked up, before we could take our turn. This 
was likely to detain us for some time, and the passen- 
gers, accordingly, stepped off from the paddle-box to the 
stone pier which here lined the canal, to take a walk. 
We found ourselves in a somewhat broader valley than 
we had been accustomed to see during the day, as 
several lateral glens seemed to open together here, 
each one sending its little river down to enter at the 
head of the lake. On the right, that is, on the southern 
side of the canal, at a little distance from the place of 
our debarkation, was a beautiful view of the whole 
broad and smooth slopes and embankments of a mod- 
ern fortification, with a quadrangle of handsome stone 
edifices in the center. It was Fort Augustus. The 
grounds on one side sloped toward the lake ; on two 
others they were bordered by two rivers whose courses 
were parallel to each other ; and, as all was very per- 
fectly finished and kept in excellent order, the scene 
which it presented was beautiful, and its highly arti- 
ficial look contrasted strongly with the rude and rugged 
outlines of the mountains around. We walked along 
the smooth gravel-walk into the fort, and mounted to 
one of the bastions. The view was very striking in 
every direction. On the right were the lofty mount- 
ains ; on the left was the canal, and the rapid river by 
its side. One steamer was just coming out of the low- 
est lock into the lake, and another, an iron one of mod- 
erate dimensions, but of elegant workmanship, and filled 
with a gay company going to the western coast to wel- 
come the queen, was preparing to go into it. Beyond 



THE CALEDONIAN CANAL. 269 

Row of huts. The village. The kilt 

the canal a stone bridge led across the river, and a 
road from it was seen winding up an ascent between 
two rows of ancient cottages, part of them roofless and 
in ruins, and the rest covered with turf, on which the 
weeds and grass grew at least as luxuriantly as they 
did in the rocky ground around them. 

I remained on one of the embankments of the forti- 
fication, protected from the sun by my umbrella, look- 
ing at the steamer which came sweeping round in a 
great circle into the lake. I watched it on its course 
until it became a mere cloud of smoke, with a black 
point depending from it at the surface of the water. 
It would have continued in sight much longer, for the 
lake is so straight that we are out of sight of land, as 
we may say, in one direction, at least in the case of an 
ordinary summer haze upon the water. When there 
was no longer any interest in watching the steamer's 
motion, I crossed the canal and the river, and followed 
the road which led to the village. 

A boy in the kilt followed me, saying, " Please, sir, 
where shall I get a ha'penny?" Many of the boys 
were dressed in this way, and I observed one old man 
who had the Highland dress, which appeared well 
worn, as if it was his usual garb. In all other cases 
this costume seemed to be worn only for show, as a 
gala dress. Many persons were having it made at 
this time, in order to present a Highland spectacle to 
her majesty. The dress, when put on in full in the old 
chieftain style, has a veiy imposing character, and it 
must have been very well adapted to its purposes at 
the time when it was originally worn. It is very warm 
about the body, though the knees are exposed. In the 
full dress there are shoes and stockings, or, rather, ar- 

22 



270 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

The plaid. Sporran. Dirk and knives. Gun and pistols. 

tides of a peculiar make, corresponding to shoes and 
stockings. The plaid, which was thrown over the 
shoulders, could be used as a cloak, or a sash, or a 
blanket at night ; and it could be made to afford differ- 
ent degrees of warmth by the different modes of put- 
ting it on. Instead of a pocket, the Highlander had a 
sort of purse, called a sporran, which was hung to the 
kilt in front. It was covered with a goat-skin, with 
the hair on, either white or black, with tassels of the 
opposite color. There was a dirk, made with a three- 
fold division of the sheath, two of the partitions being 
occupied by the knife and fork, the handles rising one 
above another, with that of the dirk at the top. Thi 
knife was for eating. There was another knife fo; 
cutting, contained in a sheath, which was attached to 
the stocking on one side ; a singular place, it would 
seem, for wearing such an instrument, but, after all, 
not an inconvenient one. The ancient Highlander had 
also two pistols, and his gun. The whole makes a 
heavy burden, it must be admitted ; but then we must 
remember that he had to carry his inn about with him, 
instead of finding one, as we do, under a good slated 
roof, at every stage. These accouterments constitu- 
ted all that was necessary to make him independent of 
all mankind in the wild fastnesses of the mountains. 
With his gun he could kill his game. His sporran 
supplied him with the means of making a fire to cook 
it. His knife and fork were ready in the sheath of 
his dirk ; and at night there were projecting rocks 
enough for a roof, soft heather for a bed, and his plaid 
for a blanket. His dress, and the burdens which he 
had to bear, seem to have been studiously arranged 
with a view to facilitate climbing. The lower limbs 



% 



THE CALEDONIAN CANAL. 271 

Conveniences of the Highland dress. Great changes. 

were free. The cloak could be turned into a sash at 
any moment, so as to liberate the arms. And, on the 
whole, it would probably be difficult to contrive any 
mode by which a man could carry so easily so many 
essentials for the support of life in wild passes, and in 
a manner so little encumbering, in ascending and de 
scending the declivities of the mountains. 

The kind of life, however, in which this dress orig- 
inated, and the dress itself, have passed away togeth 
er. The Highland chieftains are all scattered and 
gone. Lowland gentlemen have come into possession 
of the lands, and have stocked the hill-sides with sheep, 
retaining enough of the descendants of the wild follo-vy- 
ers of the ancient chieftains to watch the flocks, and 
sending off the rest to work in southern manufactories, 
or to begin life anew in Canada. Every glen has a 
good coach-road through it; every hamlet has an inn ; 
and when the hamlet has gone to decay, the inn re- 
mains thriving and prosperous among the ruins. Ev- 
ery wild and sequestered ravine is within reach of a 
hunting-lodge, from which the moors around are filled 
with English sportsmen, who shoot grouse to send in 
boxes to their southern friends. Instead of having to 
carry their means of protection and subsistence on 
their backs, they are followed by servants and ponies 
that relieve them of every burden. Thus every thing 
is changed. The summits of the mountains are scaled 
in safety by ladies from every quarter of the globe, 
whose genteel attendants carry spy-glasses, and sand- 
wiches and wine from the inn, instead of dirks and 
guns. 

And yet a serious effort is making to restore the old 
costume. Societies are formed and prizes are offered, 



272 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

Fruitless eifoi'ts. The physician in a Highland garb. A b' 

and annual exhibitions held to encourage a counter-j 
revolution in the national dress. These efforts must,| 
of course, be fruitless. They are struggles against a 
current which no human power can withstand. In fact, 
there is an incongruity between the dress and the pres- 
ent pursuits and characters of the wearers, when the 
dress is assumed, which is irreconcilable. In one vil- 
lage, on a Sunday morning, as I was standing at the 
door of the inn, a splendidly-dressed Highland chief- 
tain, as I might have imagined, came down the street. 
I fell into conversation with him. He turned out to 
be a young village physician, with all the mental cul- 
tivation and modern ideas characteristic of his profes- 
sion. Think of the refinement, the calmness, the benev- 
olence of the physician, clothed in the garb of a half- 
savage warrior; the gentle visiter of sick rooms, equip- 
ped for midnight maraudings on the mountains, and for 
desperate encounters with foes"! It is true that in this 
case, as in most others, the dress was probably only 
intended as a sort of holiday costume in honor of the 
queen, yet the incongruity was none the less conspic- 
uous on that account. 

With such thoughts as these, suggested by the sight 
of the old man above referred to, who seemed to be 
wearing in earnest a simple form of the Highland dress, 
I advanced up the street, or, rather, road of the village. 
A little path turned off between two roofless and ruined 
cottages. I followed it, and it led me behind the houses 
where a little " burn" was meandering along over the 
stones. At a little distance before me an old woman 
was washing clothes by the side of an ancient wall. 
Her kettle was poised upon three stones, and was boil- 
ing by the heat of a fire of peat. Her children were 



THE CALEDONIAN CANAL. 273 

View from the rocks. Huts. A bow. 

playing about the brook, to all appearance healthy and 
happy. I tried to talk with them, but they could not 
speak English ; the mother could speak very weW, and 
was evidently much pleased to have a little friendly 
chat w^ith a stranger. 

I w^ent on in my path, still diverging from the village, 
a few^ rods further, to the top of a small, rocky emi- 
nence, raised a little above the surrounding land. Here 
I had a fine view^ of all the objects which I had seen 
before, though now under different aspects and rela- 
tions. There was the lake, and the fortification, with 
the smooth slopes about it. There was the bridge, and 
the canal locks, with the iron steamer which we wei'e 
waiting for, half up through, our own remaining quietly 
at the top in her original position. On the other side 
of the little hill was a wild tract of pasture land, ex- 
tending back to the foot of the mountains. A few huts 
were scattered about upon it irregularly, with foot- 
paths leading from one to the other through the grass, 
but no road. Upon a flat place among the rocks near 
me was a child at play, building a house of stones; he 
had on a little kilt, reaching half down to his knees, 
and nothing below. He got up when I came near, and 
began to move away. I spoke to him, asking him some 
question, but he made no reply. His home was in one of 
the huts quite near, and his mother was standing in the 
door of it. She called out to him and said something 
in Gaelic, and then the boy, as if in obedience to some 
directions she had given him, took hold of the hair 
which hung down upon his forehead, for want of a hat 
to touch, and made me a bow. On receiving further di- 
rections from his mother, he advanced timidly to me, and 
began to repeat what I supposed to be a Gaelic hymn. 



274 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

A talk with the mother. The half penny. 

After a little time his mother came and joined us, 
and, seating herself upon a stone opposite to me, with 
the boy, and an older girl, who also joined us, leaning 
upon her knee, we talked half an hour about the cus- 
toms and modes of life of her village. She was young,^ 
and very intelligent ; and, so far as appeared, content- 
ed and happy. And yet her dwelling was a mere hxit^ 
with one door and one window, or, rather, one small 
opening in the wall instead of a window. She said 
that there were formerly a great many more inhabit- 
ants in the village than now. They all used to have 
some land, but " since the sheep came," that was 
changed, and a great many had been obliged to go 
away, some " to the south," and some to America. 
Her gudeman had no land, she said. " Is he a shep- 
herd, then?" " Na, sir, he's no a shepherd." "How 
do you get a living, then ?" " Oh, we get along as 
weel as we can ; when we get wark we eat, and when 
we canna get wark we want, that's it, all." 

I had to keep watch upon our steamer ; and when, 
at length, I found her getting well along down the locks, 
the iron one having completed the ascent, and sailed 
away, I rose to go. I first, however, beckoned the child 
to me, and gave him a half penny. He began to stag- 
ger along toward his mother, she looking at him with 
a smile, and saying to me, " You will see, now, that I 
shall get that. He always brings his ha' pence to me." 
The child put the half penny into his mother's hands, 
and they all went away together, her heart being full, 
I have no doubt, of maternal pride and pleasure. 

Our little company of passengers was soon collected 
again ; the steamer glided out of the lowest lock and 
entered upon the waters of the lake. It was only one 



THE CALEDONIAN CANAL. 275 

Setting sail again. Expensive pleasure grounds. End of the mountains. 



more narrow and long expanse, like a broad river, with 
a range of mountains on either bank. The soft and 
rich verdure of the heather, however, here disappear- 
ed, and the slopes began to look sterile and forbidding, 
ledges of rocks breaking out every where among thin 
patches of verdure. Every few miles, however, some 
broad lateral glen opened toward the lake, showing in 
its bosom signs of fertility and cultivation. Some of 
these valleys had broad slopes of land waving with 
grain, and extensive plantations, and gentlemen's resi- 
dences, or hunting lodges, peeping out here and there 
among the trees. At one such place we passed a hand- 
some house, with a smooth green lawn sloping down 
to the loch. Two gentlemen were reclining upon the 
grass near the shore, observing the steamer as it glided 
by. I was seated on the bridge of the steamer, talking 
with the captain. He told me what lord owned that 
estate. " He has recently bought it for thirty-five thou- 
sand pounds. That is he, with the white hat, lying upon 
the grass." It was a beautiful place, but in the midst 
of a desolate and lonely region. I asked what portion 
of the year the owner spent here. " Oh ! only two or 
three weeks," replied the captain, " in the shooting sea- 
son. He only bought it for his amusement, and keeps 
it just for the game. He has very large estates in En- 
gland." Thirty-five thousand pounds is about one 
hundred and seventy thousand dollars. 

At the end of Loch Ness we came to the end of the 
mountains. We passed into a canal again, and, at the 
same time, emerged suddenly to a broad region of 
level or gently-undulating land, presenting on all sides 
the richest possible pictures of fertility and beauty. 
The reapers were cutting the corn, great companies 



276 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

Reaping. Hay -stacks. Invemesa. Culloden Moor. 



of them together. In one field there was a line of 
more than fifty, chiefly women, who advanced togeth- 
er, carrying the whole field before them. In othei 
cases they were rearing enormous stacks, either of 
oats or hay, as large as a New England barn, and ag 
true and regular in form. On one of these, which they 
were raising, there were twenty persons stationed tci 
arrange and tread down the forkings thrown up fron^ 
below. When finished, these stacks have ropes made 
of straw passing over them at regular distances, to 
keep the upper portions from being blown away by 
the wind. The rope comes half way down the side^ 
and then it seems to pass through the stack and up 
again, coming over the top a second time, at the dis- 
tance of about a foot from where it passed before. 
Thus the top is literally sewed on with a rope of 
straw, though with what kind of needle the stitches 
were made I had no opportunity of observing. 

Inverness is situated in the midst of this scene of ru- 
ral beauty. Its environs in every direction display 
broad and fertile fields, with villas, gardens, and plan- 
tations every where. It is itself a quiet town, being 
beyond the ordinary route of the tourists. The win- 
dows of the shops, however, display chiefly curiosities 
characteristic of Scotland : quaichs, sporrans, tartans 
of every kind, cairngorms set in silver or gold ; and at 
the booksellers, guide-books, Scottish views, and pic- 
tures of Highlanders in full costume. To the east of 
the town, on the shores of the Murray Frith, is a broad 
plain or moor, elevated above the water, and famous 
as Culloden Moor, the scene of the last great battle, by 
which the old house of Stuart was put down, and the 
present dynasty confirmed in its possession of the Brit- 



THE CALEDONIAN CANAL. 277 



Battle of Culloden. 



ish throne. This battle of Culloden destroyed, too, 
the military and political power of the Highland chief- 
tains, as they had taken sides with the Stuart prince. 
Culloden is, consequently, much visited as a place of 
historic interest, and many old relics are shown in the 
town which are said to have been dug up upon the field. 
Beyond it, the long valley whose course we have fol- 
lowed now from Oban to Culloden, a hundred miles, 
deepens and disappears under the waters of the Ger- 
man Ocean. 

A A 



278 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 



Perth. Rural scenery. The two Lochs Leven. 



LETTER XV. 

LOCH LEVEN. 

September 5. 

Perth is not far from fifty miles north of Edinburgh 
Between the two cities there extends a very fertile coun' 
try, presenting on every hand the richest imaginable 
pictures of rural wealth and prosperity. The traveler 
who takes his seat upon the top of the mail-coach, is 
drawn by galloping horses over a road as hard and 
smooth and neatly kept as a floor. Fields of great ex- 
tent, and of every shade of color, from the deepest green 
to a bright, autumnal yellow, are spread around him. 
There are plantations of trees, and parks, and lawns, 
to give variety to the scene ; and villages, with neat 
inns, and rows of comfortable cottages, very different 
from the rude huts of the Highlands. The land gen- 
erally undulates in broad swells, with just enough of 
inequality to display the surface to advantage; and 
then, here and there, dark, isolated mountains rise up 
out of this sea of verdure, their profiles assuming new 
forms as you pass along continually to new points of 
view, and their dark and gloomy masses, covered with 
ibrests or with heather, contrasting strongly with the 
broad expanse of life and beauty upon which they re- 
pose. 

In the midst of this scene, and surrounded by these 
views, is a broad loch, fourteen or fifteen miles in cir- 
cumference, in the middle of which is the island on 
which Queen Mary was imprisoned : it is Loch Lev- 
en, There is another Loch Leven in the northwest- 



LOCH LEVEN. '21id 



Queen Mary. Her imprisonment. Douglas. Mary's escape. 

ern part of Scotland, which is also celebrated for its 
beautiful scenery ; but this is the Loch Leven of his- 
tory. 

Queen Mary was imprisoned in a castle upon an 
island in the center of this loch by a confederacy of 
her own nobles, who were made hostile to her by her 
marriage with Bothwell, whom they suspected to have 
been the murderer of her former husband. The castle 
was very small, and she was imprisoned in a little tow- 
er overhanging the water. The island, in fact, was it- 
self very small, being nearly covered by the buildings 
of the castle. In this little tower, containing only one 
very narrow room above another, Mary lived m wretch- 
ed solitude for several months. Her enemies brought 
her papers of abdication, which they forced her to sign. 
She submitted, though with remonstrances and tears, 
and declared that such an extorted relinquishment of 
her rights was of no validity, and that she would never 
consider herself bound by it at all. 

There was a young man named George Douglas, 
the brother of the keeper of the castle, who became so 
much interested in the beautiful and unhappy prisoner, 
that he formed a plan for her escape. He contrived to 
get the keys of the castle after it was locked for the 
night, and, as it is said, threw them into the loch to pre- 
vent the guards from coming out in pursuit of Mary. 
He then went in a boat to the window of the tower 
where Mary was confined, and assisted her to descend 
to it down the wall. He conveyed her to the shore, 
and thence by a rapid ride across the country to her 
friends. She soon gathered an army; but the forces 
of her enemies were too strong for her, and she fled, 
at length, to England, where Queen Elizabeth made 



280 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

The island and castle. Subsidence of the watei's. The village. 

her a captive, and kept her imprisoned for the rest of 
her days. 

The island on which Mary was confined in Loch 
Leven was, as has been ah'eady remarked, very small. 
The castle occupied the whole breadth of it at the 
southern end. Toward the north the land extended a 
little way, affording space for a small garden. The 
water of the lake washed the edges of the garden, and 
came up to the walls of the castle on the other three 
sides. The island, however, is now larger ; for the 
outlet of the lake was deepened some years ago, and 
the level of the water reduced four or five feet, by 
which means large tracts of land, formerly submerged, 
are now bare. A few acres were by this operation 
added to the island. 

The coach set me down at the inn. It was a very 
somber-looking day. Dark and heavy clouds were 
moving slowly over the sky. These clouds had sent 
down, from time to time, a gentle mist upon us on the 
coach, and the horizon all around was piled up and ob- 
scured with dense masses of rainy-looking vapor, which 
presented a very threatening aspect. Still, however, 
I thought I would walk down to the shores of the loch, 
and let the question of going out upon it be decided ac- 
cording to appearances which should be presented there. 

The village is upon the western side of the loch, and 
the inn at which I was left was at the upper, or north- 
ern, end of the village. I sallied forth as soon as my 
" portmanteau," as they call it, was taken care of, um- 
brella in hand, to see what 1 could find. I walked 
along down the village street, looking out for a lane, or 
road, leading off to the left, which was the direction in 
which the loch lay. After walking through the whole 



LOCH LEVEIV. tiSl 

A walk. The tartan manufactory. The brook. 

length of the street, I came to such a lane, and turned 
into it. It was evident that there was a considerable 
space of low, level land between the village and the 
water, which was occupied by a great variety of small 
manufactory-like buildings, arranged very irregularly, 
and accessible only through sundry narrow and crook- 
ed lanes and passages. The fabric manufactured here 
was tartan plaids, the patterns being of every variety 
of gaudy coloring. Women were going about from 
shop to shop carrying baskets of yarn, red, and green, 
and blue, and all of the most brilliant dyes. Long 
webs of the fabric were stretched on frames, here and 
there, to dry. There were open windows in the low 
buildings, through which the weavers were to be seen 
at their work ; and a rapid stream, confined between 
two low stone walls, that formed a canal-like passage 
for it, and which it filled to the brim, was pouring along 
its waters, which were tinged of a deep bluish-green 
color by waste and rejected dyes. Poor burn I It 
commenced its career, doubtless, in some wild mount- 
ain glen, pure and free as the mountain atmosphere 
which gave it birth. It was mournful to see it, at the 
close of its career, imprisoned, constrained, and con- 
taminated, forced to do duty as a manufacturing slave. 
It seemed to be an emblem of the change which the 
living occupants of the Highland glens have had to 
bear ; forced by stern necessity to leave their native 
fastnesses and their lives of freedom to come into the 
Lowland villages, and earn their bread by weaving the 
tartans which once they wore. However, the appar- 
ent sadness of the spectacle was only an illusion. It 
is better for a brook to be useful in a town than merely 
at play among the mountains ; and in The case of the 
A A 2 



282 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

Talk with an old woman. Boy guides. 

man, it has been, after all, only a change from the des-] 
titation and terror of his wild life among the mount-^i 
ains, to the comforts and security of industry and peace 
in the town. 

I asked an old woman, who was carrying home some 
vegetables which she had just been purchasing at the 
market, which was the way to the loch, and whether 1 
could get a boat to go out and see the castle. She 
answered both my questions with great readiness, but 
with so broad an accent, such a rolling of the r's, such 
new combinations of words, and, withal, with such 
volubility, that I could comprehend but a small part 
of her communication. As to the way to the loch, 
" Ye maun gang," said she, " strrite alang this gate, an' 
ye'll soon come to the shore." " And can I get a boat 
there ?" " Oh, ay," said she ; " there'll aye be a boat 
there, but ye maun gang to Mr. Mishell, who has the 
fishing o' the loch, and he'll send his men to row ye 
o'er intil the castle." 

She finally, however, called a little boy, who, she 
said, would go for me to the owner of the boat, if I 
wished. The boy was about five or six years of age, 
and he had a companion perhaps four. Both looked 
abashed and awe-struck in the presence of the stranger. 

I took the boys into my employ as guides, but de- 
cided first to go on down to the shores of the loch and 
see what the appearances were there, before sending 
for the boatmen. We followed a path which led along 
the side of the blue brook, which was here pouring its 
way along toward its embouchure. A great flock of 
large white birds, which I was afterward told were 
sea-gi;lls, were sailing about over the mouth of the 
brook, and wading in the shallow water of the loch 



J 



LOCH LEVE^f. 283 



The dike. The landing. View of the castle. 

around it. Some men were at work upon a stone 
wall, and I asked the boys what they were making. 
" Jt is joost a dike," said the oldest, walking straight 
along, and not lifting his eyes from the ground. " And 
what is it for ?" " I dinna ken," said the boy, with the 
same attitude and air. 

I saw, as we approached the water, at the end of a 
path-way which led through a low field, a small pier, 
with a boat near it. A small wooden building was on 
the shore, at a few rods' distance from the pier. I asked 
the boy if that was the landing. " Ay," said he, " and 
yon's the boat-hoose." I told him then that I would 
go down to the pier, and he might go back to the owner 
of the boat and ask him to send me down some boatmen. 

While the boys were gone I stood upon the little 
wooden pier and surveyed the scene around me. I 
was near the southwestern corner of the loch, and on 
my left, that is, along the western side of it, was ex- 
tended the long range of village buildings, part of 
which could be seen from where I stood, and part 
were concealed by walls and trees, marking out the 
grounds of a villa, which occupied an elevated tract 
along the shore, between the northern part of the vil- 
lage and the water. The whole southern shore of the 
loch, where Mary landed after her escape, was in view. 
It was a beautiful slope of green fields, with scattered 
trees here and there among the hedges between them. 
Before me, in the middle of the loch, was the island. 
I could see a square tower on the northern side of the 
castle, and a smaller round tower on the southeastern 
side, with high walls between them. The island was 
low, rising, apparently, just above the surface of the 
water, and all around the castle a grove of evergreen 



Il 



284 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 



Messengers. Unsatisfactory answers. Embarkation. 

trees, perhaps ten feet high, was springing up. They 
had been planted by the proprietor, on the land left 
bare by the lowering of the lake. 

By the time I had well surveyed the scene aroun 
me, my little messengers returned, but without an 
boatmen, the boys telling me, in answer to my inquir- 
ies, " He says ye maun gang yersell." 

I had some doubt before whether the boat owner 
would have sent two men a quarter of a mile to row a 
boat a mile and a half, in very threatening weather, on 
the summons of such messengers as I sent — messengers 
coming, too, from a perfect stranger. However, I press- 
ed the boys for the reason ; but I could get nothing from 
them but " Ye maun gang yersell." " What do you 
think the reason is why he won't send his men?" "I 
dinna ken." " Is it because it rains ?" asked I. " I 
dinna ken. He did na speak aboot that. Only he 
said ye maun gang yersell." 

I immediately began to consider whether I should 
not punish the man for his independence by contenting 
myself with a distant view of Maiy's prison, thus mak- 
ing him lose the dollar and a quarter which the good 
woman, who had directed me to the shore, had told me 
was the established fee for rowing one over. On re- 
flecting, however, that in this case the punishment 
would fall far more heavily upon myself than upon 
him, and considering, also, that perhaps his caution 
was not wholly unreasonable, I directed the boys to 
show me the way to his house. On arriving, I made 
an arrangement at once for two boatmen, whom the 
man called from their looms in adjoining shops, and 
we were soon all seated in the boat gliding swiftly 
over the water. 



I 



LOCH LEVEN. 287 



Story of the keys. Recession of the water. The island. Small castles. 

I asked one of the boatmen, a young and handsome- 
looking Scotchman, who acted as guide afterward in 
showing me the castle, whether there was not a story 
of the keys having been found which Douglas is said 
to have thrown into the lake. He said " there was 
but a small bunch o' wee bits o' keys found, on a ring 
o' wire ; and they found them, too, in a place joost 
by where the boatmen had always kept their boats 
fastened wi' padlocks and keys joost the like o' them." 
He thought, therefore, " it wad be more likely to be 
joost a boatman's boonch o' keys that they found." 

It was a long pull to the island. We passed along 
the margin of a large tract of land, on the western side, 
which had been laid bare by the subsidence of the lake. 
This tract of land extends from the village shore out 
toward the castle, leaving a much smaller breadth of 
water between the island and the shore than there was 
in Mary's time. We landed at a rude stone pier, on 
the w^estern side of the island, and passed up through 
the plantation of firs and pines growing on the new 
land about the castle, until we came to the walls. 

We are very apt to have erroneous ideas of the 
magnitude of the old castles of feudal times, of which 
we read in history. Some of them, indeed, were ex- 
tensive ; but in general, in visiting them, the observer 
is very likely to be surprised at the smallness of their 
dimensions. The habitable part of this fortress seems 
to have consisted merely of two buildings, each con- 
taining only one room upon a floor, and three or four 
stories high. In order, however, to form an accurate 
conception of the edifice, imagine the following con- 
structions : First, there is a wall, inclosing a square 
space, perhaps a hundred feet on a side. The wall is 



288 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

Plan of the ca.?tle. Walls. Square tower. 



six feet thick, and perhaps ten feet high ; it is flat upoE 
the top, with a parapet carried up on the outer side, sc 
that a person can walk all around it, upon the top of 
the wall, within the parapet. Three of the sides of 
this wall, namely, the eastern, western, and southern, 
are washed by the waters of the loch. On the north- 
ern side is a small garden plat, with the waters sur- 
rounding it also. 

On the northern side of this wall of inclosure, that' 
is, the side toward the garden, is the entrance. On 
one side of the entrance — the western — and within the 
wall, is a square building, perhaps twenty feet on each 
side, and four stories high. Of course, the northern 
wall of the inclosure is the northern wall of the build- 
ing ; but there is no entrance, or scarcely any window, 
except loop-holes, on that side. The only entrance to 
this building, or square tower, as it is called, is from 
within the court-yard, namely, on the eastern side ot 
the tower. The entrance is, moreover, not into the 
lower story, but into the story above, by an opening 
(it is hard to say whether it ought to be called door or 
window) fifteen feet from the ground. In ancient times, 
when the castle was inhabited, access was obtained to 
this port-hole by a ladder, which was raised or let down 
by means of a chain which passed up into the window 
above. This tower was for the residence of the keep- 
er of the castle, or prison, as it might, perhaps, be more 
properly termed. 

Bearing in mind, now, that this square tower is sit- 
uated upon the northern side of the inclosure, though 
within it, and west of the entrance, let the reader now 
conceive of a smaller round tower on the southeast 
corner of the inclosure, and projecting from it over the 



LOCH LEVEN. 289 



Round tower. The court. Ruin and decay. 

water, so as to be, in a great measure, loithout the inclo- 
sure, though accessible by a door within. This round 
tower was for the prisoner of state, who might at any- 
time be sent to this fortress for safe-keeping. It was 
built upon an arch over the water. It was round out- 
side, but hexagonal within, and three stories high. Thus 
there were three small rooms, one above the other, in 
the round tower for the prisoner, and three or four in 
the same relation to each other, in the square tower, for 
the keeper ; and this was the whole. 

That is, this was suhstantially the whole. There 
were some subordinate offices around the sides of the 
inclosure, and, perhaps, rude lodging-places for the ser- 
vants or soldiers, though but very few even of these. 
The ruin is substantially a square court-yard, inclosed 
by a wall, with a square tower on the northern side 
within, and a round tower on the southeastern corner 
without, each containing simply three or four rooms, 
one above the other. 

We entered into the court by the opening on the 
northern side of the inclosure. Within these was a 
melancholy spectacle of ruin and decay. Remains of 
old walls and small constructions were seen all around 
among the grass and weeds. The roofs of the two 
towers were gone, and the wind and rain beat merci- 
lessly in at the loop-holes and windows. The wall of 
the inclosure was irregular and ragged, where it had 
not actually fallen. Its sides were green with wall- 
flowers, and moss, and creepers, growing out of the 
crevices ; and the top was waving with taller weeds. 
We walked diagonally across the court to Mary's 
Tower, and entered, by a few stone steps, to the low- 
er floor. 

Bb 



290 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 



Ruins of Mary's Tower. The guide's narrative. 

This floor being formed of stone, and resting upon a 
stone arch, was still firm ; but all the floors above, and 
the roof, were gone. We could, however, in imagina- 
tion, restore the apartments to their former state, by 
means of various remains and indications in the walls. 
There were rows of holes in the masonry where the 
beams for the floors had entered. There was a fire 
place for each story, and loop-holes for look-outs. There 
was one good window which projected over the wa- 
ter, that is, over where the water was in former days. 
It was from this window, the guide said, that Mary 
made her escape ; in fact, it must have been from this, 
for there was no other opening sufficiently large. In 
an angle of the wall was a door-way leading to a flight 
of stairs by which we could ascend to the chamber, 
that is, to the entrance to it ; but the floor being gone, 
of course we could not go in. I crept round, however, 
upon the wall, to gather some plants growing in the 
crevices. We could see distinctly what must have 
been the general arrangement of the room, from the 
remains of the fire-place, the clocks, the loop-holes 
through the walls, and other indications. As we stood 
looking at this scene, the guide gave me a narrative of 
Mary's escape, and the subsequent events of her life, in 
language which Sir Walter might have incorporated, 
word for word, as one of the most interesting passages 
in a tale. He ended with saying, that after " she got 
awa' she brought a few of her friends thegither, but 
could na' mak' head against her enemies ; and sae she 
fled to England, in hopes she could find somebody to 
take part wi' her there ; but she was joost taken by 
Queen Elizabeth, who was her ain cousin, and shut up 
in prison for a great many years, and then beheaded. 



LOCH LEVEN. 291 



The arch. Drawbridge and chain. Grooves in the stone. 

She was very hardly used, puir leddy ; but she held 
firm to her principle through it a'." 

After reflecting some moments mournfully upon the 
beautiful queen's unhappy fate, I followed the guide 
down under the tower, beneath the great arch on which 
it is supported. This arch does not appear on the out- 
side, the circular walls of the tower being continued 
down around it to the bottom. There was now a floor 
of solid ground to this dungeon, where formerly the 
water of the loch had admission. The arch was built, 
apparently, to support a floor of masonry for the lower 
apartment of the tower, in order that the dampness of 
the watery foundation might be effectually excluded." 

We left the round tower, and returned across the 
court to the square tower on the northern side. As 
has already been explained, the entrance, in former 
times, was in the second story, by means of a stair let 
down by chains from above. The marks of the chain 
were very evident in the deep furrows cut in the stone 
sill of the window, showing that such a stair must have 
been drawn up and down a great many times. Of 
course, this mode is not now adopted to get access to 
the ruin ; but an entrance has been provided through 
a window in the story below, by building a rude sort 
of stair- way to it outside. These steps are formed of 
the stones found lying in the court-yard. This window 
and all the others were formerly rendered secure by 
iron bars built into the wall. The sockets where these 
bars were inserted into the stone still remain, though 
the bars are gone. 

We clambered in at the window. The walls were 
about six feet thick. Of course, there was necessarily, 
at each window, a recess as wide as the window, and 



292 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

Stone seats. Trap-door. Stone floora. Windows. 

six feet deep. We were ushered, at first, into this re- 
cess. There were stone seats on each side of it, pro- 
jecting from the wall, and worn very smooth by the 
long series of occupants which had used them. From 
the recess we entered upon a floor of masonry, which 
was now covered with the grass and weeds that were 
growing upon the coarse soil formed by the decay of 
the fragments which had fallen from the walls. In 
this floor was a large square opening, which led to a 
dungeon below, where prisoners had formerly been 
confined. There had been a trap-door to cover the 
opening, which was the only mode of access to the 
dungeon. Marks of this door, or, rather, grooves into 
which it had fitted, were still remaining in the stone 
edging which bordered the opening. 

The upper floors were all gone ; but from indica- 
tions in the walls, similar to those of the other tower, 
we could easily replace them. The lower apartment 
was the kitchen. The one above was a hall ; and, 
probably, there were sleeping apartments over the hall. 

There were several windows, with large recesses 
and stone seats, in this tower, such openings being 
more admissible here, both because this part of the cas- 
tle was for the residence of the keeper, and not for the 
prisoner, and, also, because this square tower project- 
ing within the court, its walls, or, at least, three of them, 
■were defended by the outer wall of the inclosure. 
The windows had been, however, all protected by iron 
bars ; and the openings on the northern side, which was 
the side toward the garden, were chiefly loop-holes and 
sight-holes, affording no possibility of entrance to an 
enemy. The stair-case, by which we ascended from 
story to story, was within the thickness of the wall, 



LOCH LEVEV. 293 



Court. Chapel. Vat. Oven. Views. 

and was very narrow, allowing only one person to pass 
at a time. The guide pointed out these indications, 
showing that, in the construction of the castle, every 
thing was sacrificed to strength ; saying, " They were 
an awfu' rude set o' people in the days when they built 
the like o' these castles ; one joost cam' and plundered 
the ither, whenever he could hae ony chance." 

We strolled about the court-yard. There were some 
indications that a small chapel had once existed within 
the inclosure. There was also a small stone tank, or 
vat, which might, perhaps, have contained half a bar- 
rel, which the guide said was supposed to have been 
used for bi^ewing beer. Outside the court, too, on the 
northeast corner, toward the garden, was a kind of 
mound, under which we could see, through openings 
in the masonry, a large oven, where the guide said 
they " fired their bread." Every thing, however, indi- 
cated an extremely rude and primitive simplicity in all 
the arrangements of this dismal abode. Life must have 
been a dreary and monotonous round to all its inmates, 
and an insupportable burden, one would think, to the 
gentle and beautiful captive in the outer tower. She 
could look out through small round openings on every 
side of her cell, and get tantalizing glimpses of land- 
scapes beyond the lake, of surprising luxuriance and 
beauty ; and it is difficult to conceive of a more lovely 
panorama than must have presented itself to her eye 
from the battlements above, if she were ever permitted 
to walk there. But how severely must this spectacle 
of the riches and beauty of the realm of which she had 
been deprived have aggravated her sufferings. 

Around the border of the garden are several ancient 
trees which look down upon the young plantation 
B B 2 



294 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

Ancient frees. Mary's hawthorn. Wall-flowers, 



|i 



springing up below, like patriarchs upon children. 
There was an old hawthorn, which tradition says that 
Mary planted. It went to decay some time since, and 
was sawed off near the root, but all visitors go to see 
It as Mary's tree. The stump remaining is of great 
diameter, and small shoots are springing up from the 
roots around. The guide gave me two or three of 
these shoots, which I told him I should carry carefully 
to America. We afterward walked around the outer 
wall, under the window from which Mary escapee^ 
The guide began to look about for some of the walM 
flowers which were growing between the stones, and 
which were now in seed, hanging down in clusters of 
long, green pods ; they were all high above his head. 
He contrived, however, to clamber up eight or ten feet 
by means of the wide crevices in the walls, and bring 
some down to me, which he said would grow if I would 
hang them up to dry. Although a traveler's facilities 
for such agricultural operations as that are rather lim- 
ited, I took the seeds and placed them in my hat ; and 
wall-flowers, tracing back their ancestry to Mary's 
Tower at Loch Leven, may possibly hereafter bloom 
from them on the other side of the Atlantic. 

We re-embarked, and my boatmen rowed me back 
to the landing. Our course was nearly in the same di- 
rection which Mary must have taken, as she landed, 
without doubt, upon the southern shore, where the road 
formerly passed near to the loch. The road has been 
changed in modern times ; but the guide informed me 
that a part of the old road remains, and that there is 
an inscription placed there saying that Mary passed 
that way. 

I parted with the boatmen at the pier, and returned 



LOCH LEVEN. 295 



Return to the Inn. Conversation with an old Scotchman. 

to the inn. An old Scotchman was sitting in the pub- 
lic room, a friend, apparently, of the waiter's. He was 
one of that sort of talkative people who seem to think 
aloud ; and as he thought in the broadest Scotch, and 
in a somewhat original manner, I listened to him while 
the waiter was prepainng my dinner, busying myself, 
in the mean time, in arranging in my guide-book the 
leaves from Queen Mary's hawthorn. " Ye'Il be frae 
some distant parts, I'm thinking," said the old gentle- 
man, after some minutes' conversation. " Yes, I came 
from a great way ; I am from New York." " Frae 
York ! oh, ay ! a great way, indeed, I ken ; it's half 
way to London." I explained to him the difference be- 
tween York and New York, to which he said, " Oh, 
ay !" and then, " Ye hae got some wee bits o' sprigs 
there." I told him I had been to see the castle where 
Queen Mary had been imprisoned, and that I had got 
the plants there, and was going to carry them to Amer- 
ica. " Oh, ay ! but do you think they will grow ?" On 
my shaking my head, with a smile he added, " Na, they 
will nae grow ; they ha' na ony root." I told him I did 
not expect them to grow ; and, despairing of making 
him think that grown persons could take an interest in 
such things, I called to mind some of the youngest of 
my pupils, who I knew would value any thing associ- 
ated with the memory of Mary, and said that I could 
give them to some children when I got to America, 
and they would like them. " Oh, ay !" said he, " but 
they maun hae some age. The children that's ower 
young will na ken nor care ony thing aboot it." 



296 


SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 


j 


Edinburgh. 


Ancient castles. 


Origin of towna. * 






J 



LETTER XVI. 

EDINBURGH CASTLE. 

September 7. 

In ancient times castles were built first, and towns 
gradually gathered around them. This was strikingly 
the case with Edinburgh. The rocky hill which stands 
in the center of the city was of just the right form, and 
in an admirable situation for a strong-hold in rude 
times ; and, accordingly, the earliest history of the 
town consists of incidental allusions to the fortress. 

It has already been said that the hill on which the 
castle stands is perpendicular on three sides, while on 
the fourth there is access to it by a long ascent, which 
is, in fact, the top of a narrow ridge that rises grad- 
ually from the plain to the southern side of the castle ; 
and that this ridge is now covered, sides and top, with 
tall buildings, constituting a great part of what is called 
the old town of Edinburgh. There are also included 
in the old town several other streets, in the valleys and 
along under the precipices, which are crowned by the 
castle. 

It would probably happen that the earliest dwellings 
which were constructed about such a castle as this, 
would be in its immediate vicinity ; that is, in this case 
at the upper end of the street ascending to it, and not 
far from the castle walls. It is not customary to allow 
such erections too near to the fortress, for fear of their 
affording shelter to an enemy. When the abbey and 
the royal palace were afterward built on the plain be- 
low, at the other end of the street ascending to the 
castle, this street, of course, acquired additional import- 



EDINBURGH CASTLE. 297 

Edinburgh Castle. Garrison. Tlie regalia. 

ance, and other streets were gradually opened in the 
lower grounds around. At length the town began to 
possess an importance of its own, and to increase and 
expand from its own inherent vitality, independent of 
both the castle and the palace. 

In most of the instances in England and Scotland in 
which a town has sprung up around a castle, the castle 
itself has long since gone to decay and been forgotten ; 
or else, if it still stands, it stands as a ruin, attracting 
attention only as a memorial of other days. But the 
Castle of Edinburgh is an exception to this rule. It is 
kept up still, in a very complete state of repair and ef- 
ficiency, and would, probably, noM^ offer as effectual 
resistance to an enemy as it did five or six centuries 
ago, provided that the enemy assailing it were of the 
same kind, and armed with the same weapons now as 
then. There is an English garrison of several hund- 
red soldiers kept in it. Its walls, and ramparts, and 
batteries are all kept in perfect condition, and it looks 
down from its rocky seat upon the magnificent streets 
and edifices, which cover valley and plain in every di- 
rection around it, like a vigorous father upon still more 
vigorous and prosperous children. 

Of course, Edinburgh Castle is very much visited 
by all Scottish tourists. They go to it, too, not mere- 
ly to see the castle itself: the regalia, as they are called, 
that is, the crown, and other emblems and badges of 
royalty pertaining to Scotland when it was an inde- 
pendent kingdom, are preserved and exhibited in this 
castle ; and they constitute a great point of attraction 
for all visitors. 

The principal of these articles are three : the crown, 
the scepter, and the sword of state. Antiquarians have 



298 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

Adventures of the regalia. Union of the English and Scottish crowns. 

made out quite a history of them, by examining an- 
cient records, and studying the mai'ks and inscriptions 
upon them. They had, it seems, a great variety of 
adventures and escapes from danger in the various 
struggles which took place for the possession of the 
Scottish throne two or three centuries ago. It will be 
recollected, perhaps, by the reader, that as the royal 
families of England and Scotland were related to each 
other in the time of Elizabeth, and as Elizabeth died 
without any direct heirs, the King of Scotland succeed- 
ed to the English throne ; and, for some time after that 
period, the two countries, while they remained sepa- 
rate as kingdoms, were still under one and the same 
king. By the kingdoms being separate, I mean that 
each had its own separate Parliament, and its own gov- 
ernment and laws. James VI., the son of Mary, was 
the King of Scotland who thus became King of En- 
gland ; and, of course, when he died, both crowns de- 
volved upon Charles I., his successor. Charles sent to 
Scotland to have the regalia brought to London, that 
he might there be invested with the badges pertaining 
to both the realms. But the Scotch would not consent 
to this. They admitted that he was rightfully their 
monarch, but claimed that Scotland was an entirely 
distinct and independent monarchy from England, and 
that he must come to Scone, the ancient place of cor- 
onation for the Scottish kings, to be crowned. 

Charles I., after some years of difficulty and trouble, 
was imprisoned, tried, and beheaded ; and the English 
Parliament, who had thus dethroned their own king, 
wished to extend the revolution to Scotland. In the 
difficulties and wars which arose out of these circum- 
stances, the Scotch Parliament had great trouble in 



EDINBURGH CASTLE. 299 

Dunnottar. Danger of the regalia. Letter. 

keeping these regalia from falling into the hands of the 
English. At one time they were sent away to the 
north, to a castle built on a point of land jutting out 
into the sea, to the southward of Aberdeen. The name 
of the castle was Dunnottar. They sent a military 
force there, and a supply of artillery, to protect the cas- 
tle. The English, however, were continually advanc- 
ing, being successful in all their enterprises, until, as 
they approached nearer and nearer to Dunnottar, the 
governor feared that he should be obliged to surren- 
der his fortress, and deliver the regalia into their hands. 
In his alarm, he wrote a letter to the Lord High-chan- 
cellor of Scotland, asking him what he should do. He 
received the following answer. He had previously, 
however, had an offer from Lord Balcarras to take the 
regalia away to some secure place in the Highlands, 
which offer he had declined, feeling bound not to let 
them go out of his own personal charge. Besides the 
national feeling of pride in the possession of these em- 
blems of sovereignty, the articles were of immense pe- 
cuniary value, being constructed of massive gold and 
silver, and profusely enriched with precious stones. 

" I conceive," said the lord chancellor, in his reply, 
" that the trust committed to you, and the safe custody 
of the things under your charge, did require that vic- 
tual, a competent number of honest and stout soldiers, 
and all other necessaries, should have been provided 
and put in the castle before you had been in any haz- 
ard ; and if you be in good condition, or that you can 
timely supply yourself with all necessaries, and that the 
place be tenable against all attempts of the enemie, I 
doubt not but you will hold out. But if you want pro- 
visions, sojers, and ammunition, and can not hold out 



300 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 



Plans for escape. The bundles of flax. 



at the assaultis of the enemie, Avhich is feared anc 
thought you can not doe if you be hardlye persued, '. 
know no better expedient than that the Honours of tht 
Crowne be speedilye and saiflie transported to som^ 
remote and strong castle or hold in the Highlands 
and I wish you had delivered them to the Lord Bal- 
carras, as was desired by the Committee of Estates 
nor doe I knowe any better way for preservatione o; 
these thingis, and your exoneration ; and it will be an 
irreparable lose and shame if these thingis shall be takeq 
by the enemie, and verie dishonourable for yourself, 
So having given you the best advice I can at present, 
I trust you will, with all care and faithfulness, be an- 
swerable, according to the trust committed to you," 

The castle was, however, now so closely investec 
on the land side, that it was too late to send away the 
regalia in that direction. The governor next tried tq 
have a small vessel sent to take them off by sea ; but this 
plan also failed. The Scotch commanders had no ves' 
sel to send. At length a lady, a countess in rank, con 
trived a plan for getting the regalia away. The plan 
was concerted with the wife of the governor of the cas 
tie. He himself was to know nothing about it, so thai 
when the castle was taken, he could say honestly tha' 
he did not know where the regalia were gone. These 
ladies made an arrangement with the wife of a ministei 
of a small parish near the castle, named Mrs. Granger. 
Mrs. Granger got permission of the English general tc 
go into the castle to visit the lady of the governor. 
She took two maids with her. When she came out 
the maids were loaded with bundles of lint or flax 
something which she was going, as she pretended, to 
have spun into thread for the governor's lady. The 



» EDINBURGH CASTLE. 301 

Place of deposit Receipt SuiTender of the castle. 

scepter and sword of state were in these bundles. Mrs. 
Granger had the crown herself, concealed about her 
person. They carried them to Mr. Granger, who im- 
mediately buried them under the pavement of the 
church. He gave the countess, who had planned the 
whole scheme, the following receipt for them : 

" I, Mr. James Granger, minister at KinnefF, grant 
me to have in my custody the Honours of the kingdom, 
viz., the Crown, Sceptre, and Sword. For the Crown 
and Sceptre, I raised the pavement stone just before 
the pulpit, in the night tyme, and digged under it ana 
hole, and put them in there, and filled up the hole, and,, 
layed down the stone just as it was before, and re- 
moved the mould that remained, that none would have 
discerned the stone to have been raised at all ; the 
Sword, again, at the west end of the church, amongst 
some common seits that stand there, I digged down in 
the ground betwixt the two foremost of these seits, and 
layed it down within the case of it, and covered it up, 
as that, removing the superfluous mould, it could not be 
discerned by any body ; and if it shall please God to 
call me by death before they be called for, your Lady- 
ship will find them in that place. 

" March 31, 1652." 

Two months after this the castle was surrendered. 
When the English general, however, found that the 
regalia were gone, and that the governor and his lady 
would give no account of when or where, he treated 
them with great cruelty. It is said that Mr. Granger 
and his wife were suspected, and that extremely rig- 
orous measures were adopted to make them reveal the 
secret, but in vain. The governor's lady herself died 
about two years afterward, in consequence, it was said, 
Cc 



302 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

The reatoration. The union of kingdoms. 

of the hardships she endured on this account ; but she 
kept the secret to the last. The countess afterward 
contrived to make the EngUsh authorities believe that 
she had sent the regalia to Paris by her son. So they 
ceased to look for them, and the deposit remained safe 
in its place of concealment. The minister and his wife 
took up the stone, from time to time, to see that all was 
right, and to watch against any injury the articles might 
receive from damp or other causes. 

At length the English republican government came 
to an end, and the monarchy was restored in Charles 
the Second's accession. The regalia were then brought 
out from their hiding-place, and all the facts made 
known. The persons concerned in their preservation 
were all rewarded, either with money or with hon- 
ors. The regalia were put under the charge of the 
Scotch Parliament, and were brought forward on all 
great state occasions. And this continued until the 
union of the kingdoms of England and Scotland, which 
took place about the beginning of the last century. 
There was a great excitement among the people at the 
proposal of this union, and a strong and bitter contest 
in relation to it. This excitement was specially violent 
in respect to these national insignia, which some per- 
sons pretended were to be carried away to London : 
an idea which many of the people of Scotland could 
not endure. And on the other side, since the merging 
of the Scotch kingdom in the English was decided upon, 
it seemed unwise to keep these emblems of separate na- 
tionality here in Edinbui-gh, to remind the Scotch con- 
tinually of other days, and to keep the agitation alive. 
Finally, it was decided to leave the regalia in Edin- 
burgh, but to lock them up out of public view. They 



EDINBURGH CASTLE. 303 

Crown Room. Iron chest. Search for records. 

^were accordingly deposited in an enormous oaken chest, 
iron bound, and secured with three strong locks. They 
were placed in this chest with great ceremony, in the 
presence of many authorities, Scotch and English. 
The chest was deposited in what is called the Crown 
Room in Edinburgh Castle. This room is not large, 
but it is very strong and secure, the stone walls of it 
being carried up in the form of a vault over head, so 
that it is wholly inclosed with stone. There were two 
doors, an inner and outer one, both covering the same 
entrance. One of these doors was of oak, and the oth- 
er of iron ; and both of them were secured with bolts, 
bars, and locks in the strongest manner. Things re- 
mained in this state, without either the chest or the 
room being opened, for about ninety years ! 

At the end of ninety years the English government 
were making a search for some lost records, and the 
king sent some commissioners to Scotland to open this 
crown room to see if they were there. The keys were, 
however, not to be found. There was no record or 
evidence in respect to what had been done, either with 
the keys of the room or of the chest. The commis- 
sioners, however, caused the doors to be opened by 
smiths, and went in ; they did not find the records. 
The chest was there in safety, secured by its three 
locks ; but the commissioners did not feel authorized to 
open it. After completing their search, they closed 
the room again, and secui-ed the doors as before ; and it 
remained thus shut about a quarter of a century more. 

At length, about 1817, the English government con- 
cluded that there was no longer any reason for keep- 
ing these regalia excluded from public view. Two or 
three generations had passed away since they were 



304 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

Opening the iron chest. Commissioners. Great excitement. 

shut up in the chest, and there was no longer any agi- 
tation of the pubHc mind in connection with them. The 
union of the two kingdoms was acquiesced in by every 
one ; and the separate nationahty of Scotland was no 
longer any thing but a historical idea. Orders were 
given, therefore, for opening the great chest and bring- 
ing out the treasures it contained once more to human 
vision, after their long slumber of more than a hundred 
years. 

Of course, the opening of the great chest was a scene 
of intense interest and excitement. A large commis- 
sion was appointed to perform the duty. Sir Walter 
Scott was one of the members. There was some doubt 
whether the regalia would really be found in the chest 
when it was opened ; as, not long after the time of 
their supposed deposit there, it was strongly maintain- 
ed by many persons that they were not really left 
there, but had been taken off to England. Of course, 
the curiosity and excitement among the people, when 
the time for the opening arrived, was very great; they 
collected in crowds around and in the castle, and 
awaited the result. The commissioners proceeded to 
the room, forced the chest, and found all the treasures 
safe. They hoisted the royal flag upon the castle as 
the signal of their success, and the crowd cheered with 
long-continued acclamations. Arrangements were soon 
made for admitting the public to see the regalia, and 
they have had an almost uninterrupted succession of 
visitors from that time down to the present day. They 
are exhibited in the same crown room in which they 
were so long concealed, the great chest, with its broken 
bolts and bars, standing empty by their side. 

In going to see the regalia, it is necessary first to 



EDINBURGH CASTLE. 305 

Mode of admission. Procuring ticket. Fee expected. 

apply at a certain public office for a ticket of admis- 
sion. Nothing is charged for this ticket, and the ob- 
ject of the arrangement seems to be to regulate the 
admissions a little, so as to prevent confusion, and ex- 
clude mere idlers and loungers. The place where the 
visitor applies for a ticket is a large edifice, containing 
many public offices. It opens upon a small court con- 
nected with the High Street. As you approach the 
door of this building to obtain your ticket, looking 
about this way and that, and uncertain where to go, 
very probably a man will advance toward you on the 
steps, touch his hat, and ask very respectfully whether 
you wish for a ticket to see the regalia. Upon your 
answering in the affirmative, he says he will show you 
the way, and he conducts you to a particular door, 
which, among a dozen others, is the one where you 
are to apply. 

On entering and making your application, you are 
requested to inscribe your name and address in a book 
kept for the purpose. If you choose, you purchase of 
the clerk a little book for a shilling, which gives a brief 
history of the regalia. When you come out of the of- 
fice, the man who guided you into it is there, and asks 
if you would like, also, a ticket to see Heriot's Hospital, 
which is a sort of orphan asylum, and one of the prom- 
inent institutions of Edinburgh. It is very richly en- 
dowed, and it occupies one of the most splendid edi- 
fices of the city. You assent, and your guide conducts 
you to another office, where you receive a second tick- 
et. When you come out, he touches his hat, and ex- 
pects some small gratuity. Sixpence is a sufficient re- 
ward. About half the persons whom he thus directs 
very cheerfully give him his sixpence, considering it 
Cc2 



I 



30G SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

The High Street. Old buildings and new. 

worth a small sum to have been relieved of all embar4i 
rassment, and provided with their tickets without any 
delay, especially if they were conducting a party of 
ladies and had left them waiting in the court. The 
other half refuse ; or else, if they give the money, it isj 
with expressions of fretfulness and impatience at the 
endless contrivances resorted to in this country to ex- 
tort money from the traveler. 

According to the regulations adopted, a ticket must 
be used on the day in which it is issued ; and, as the 
office is in the High Street, it is usual to call there for 
the ticket on the way to the castle. In ascending the 
High Street, it is natural to reflect, as you go on, that 
you are passing through what has been an inhabited 
street for a thousand years. It grows more and more 
narrow as we ascend, but still the houses do not look 
particularly ancient, the buildings having been renewed. 
In fact, the number of ordinary dwellings over a hund- 
dred years old, in any of the cities of England, is com- 
paratively small ; and as in early times the construc- 
tions were undoubtedly much more frail and tempora- 
ry than those now built, it is probable that fiftt/ years 
would be a full average for the duration of ordinary 
street architecture ; so that London, for example, will 
have been built over and over again twenty times with- 
in the last thousand years. Thus there have been twen- 
ty Londons, one after the other, nothing having been 
permanent but the streets, and the streams of people 
passing along them. 

At the upper end of the High Street the open space 
suddenly expanded into a broad esplanade, or parade 
ground, which occupies the space immediately before 
the gates of the palace. The area of the esplanade is 



EDINBURGH CASTLE. 307 

The esplanade. Parapet wall. Prospect. Cannon. 

graveled, except a paved road-way up through the 
center ; and there is a low wall, surmounted by an iron 
palisade, on the two sides. On approaching these walls 
we found that they were built on the brink of the prec- 
ipice, so that the esplanade occupied the whole breadth 
of the hill. Magnificent views were presented to the 
spectator on either hand. On one side we look down 
upon the streets and roofs of an ancient part of the city, 
far below us, with a broad and beautifully smooth road 
between, winding gracefully among green slopes at the 
foot of the rock. At a little distance are the buildings 
and grounds of Heriot's Hospital, the turrets rising 
among the trees. On the other side we look across 
the steep and narrow valley, north of the castle, to 
Prince's-street. The valley itself beneath us is a per- 
fect landscape garden ; and the spires, and monuments, 
and long ranges of elegant buildings of the new town 
are spread broadly before us beyond. 

At length we advanced to the upper end of the es- 
planade, toward the great gate of the castle. The for- 
tress itself consists of a congeries of buildings, present- 
ing the appearance of a little city rather than of a sin- 
gle castle ; and, as we approached, we looked up to 
the mouths of the cannon pointing at us from a great 
variety of embrasures, bastions, and batteries, with here 
and there a sentinel in uniform walking to and fro be- 
hind a parapet. We entered, and found ourselves in 
a labyrinth of roads, with walls, buttresses, and tow- 
ers all around us. We passed on, continually ascend- 
ing, through court after court, occasionally stopping to 
inquire of a soldier the way to the regalia room, until 
at last we found ourselves in the midst of a square, grav- 
eled area of considerable size, and surrounded by build- 



308 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 






The Crown Room. Brilliant display. The cage. 

ings, which seemed to be barracks for the soldiersj 
There was a small collection of ladies and gentlemen 
at a door on one side of this square, which indicated 
the place where we were to seek admission. 

We had to wait a few minutes, until those who were 
already in the Crown Room should come down. A lim- 
ited number of those who were assembled with us at 
the door were then called up. We ascended one by 
one up a narrow stair-way, passing gradually out of 
the daylight, until at length we emerged into a smai 
room, dark all around the sides, but with a very brill 
iant illumination in the center of it. This illuminatio 
was produced by the light of several powerful gas burn- 
ers, reflected by mirrors placed behind them down upon 
the gold and jewels which we had come to see. 

The first impression made upon the spectator by 
sach a magnificent display, in such a light, is very im- 
posing. We see the gold and jewelry through the bars 
of an iron grating, which, on examination, we perceive 
to form part of a great iron cage, within which the re- 
galia are placed upon a table, by which means all 
possible access to the articles themselves by the visit- 
ors is effectually prevented. There is but little more 
than space between this cage and the walls of the 
room to walk around in ; and the cage is large enough 
to furnish room for perhaps twelve persons to stand 
about it at a time. As soon as we were all placed, the 
conductress proceeded to describe the various articles, 
and to give some particulars of their history, after 
which she answered the questions which any of us 
were disposed to ask. The great chest still remains 
in the room, at one end, where it can be dimly seen by 
the light which escapes and finds its way to it, indi- 



EDINBURGH CASTLE. 309 

The chest Jewels and badges. Mons Meg. 

rectly, behind the reflectors. It is a monstrous chest 
of oak, six feet long and three feet deep, bound in the 
strongest manner with straps of iron. The ponderous 
padlocks with which it had been secured remained 
faithful to their trust, locked still ; for, as has been al- 
ready stated, the keys had never been obtained, and 
the chest had been opened by cutting through some of 
the bars of iron. 

After looking at the chest, the spectators turn around 
to the cage again, to take another view of the splendors 
spread out upon the table within. There are not mere- 
ly the regalia there, that is, the three articles whose 
history has been given, but a number of other ancierit 
jewels and badges belonging formerly to the Scottish 
kings, and now deposited here. There are eight or 
nine in all ; and as they lie there, reposing upon the vel- 
vet cloths and cushions within their grating, and illu- 
minated by the strong nocturnal light, which shows to 
great advantage the richness of the gold and the brill- 
iancy of the gems, the effect is certainly imposing. 

We came down the narrow stair-way again to make 
room for our successors, who were waiting, in the mean 
time, patiently at the door, new-comers constantly ar- 
riving to take the places of those going away. We 
rambled about the castle some time longer. We as- 
cended to the higher platforms and batteries, where we 
saw an enormous cannon, made in ancient times of bars 
of iron, bound together by iron hoops, and known in 
history by the name of Mons Meg. Great and pon- 
derous as it is, it has been quite a traveler in its day ; 
having been transported from place to place in former 
times, according as its services were required. While 
the regalia were in Dunnottar Castle this monster was 



310 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

Mons Meg still on duty, but disabled. 

sent there to guard them, and now it seems to be, in its 
old age, on the same duty, as it stands upon its paved 
platform above the Crown Room where its ancient 
trusts are deposited. It rests upon an excellent carriage, 
which is in perfect order. Its monstrous muzzle points 
through the embrasure, and a pile of enormous balls, 
of lead and of stone, lie beneath it, all ready. These 
marks of preparation, however, are all mere pretension, 
to gratify and amuse the war-worn veteran in his old 
age. He is disabled. The iron bars were forced 
apart in the side of the gun at the last discharge which 
it endured, and it will never be fired again. 



1 



LEAVING SCOTLAND. 311 

The labor market in Glasgow. What an English farmer is. 



LETTER XVII. 

LEAVING SCOTLAND. 

New York, November 23. 

After various other wanderings and adventures not 
related in these pages, I found myself, one cool autum- 
nal morning, climbing up a ladder to the top of a stage- 
coach in the streets of Glasgow. It was very early, 
half an hour before sunrise. The streets were thronged 
with men and women in the dress of an agricultural 
peasantry, all armed with sickles, and standing about 
upon the sidewalks and pavements, in groups and 
crowds, waiting to be hired for the day, as reapers in 
the fields about the city. The farmers, or their agents, 
were walking about among them, selecting and en- 
gaging them. The word farmer must be understood, 
however, in the English sense. It does not denote, as 
in our country, a plain and sturdy proprietor of a small 
domain, which he tills with his own hands and those 
of his sons ; but a sort of semi-gentleman, who hires the 
right to cultivate a portion of the land, of a proprietor 
as far above him as the rude and half-clad laborers in 
the market are below him. He is not even tenant, in 
a full and unrestricted sense. He has only the right to 
crop the land. Somebody else has " the shooting," 
that is, the right to trample or ride over the domain in 
every direction in pursuit of game ; and a third party, 
perhaps, has hired the right to fish in the streams. 

Nor is the proprietor, so called, any more really and 
fully in possession as proprietor than the tenant is as 
tenant. He is restricted and barred in the same way. 
The estate is his while he lives. He can not sell it or 



312 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

English ideas of the " family." American ideas of the same. 

alienate it. His right seems to consist simply in the 
privilege of deciding to what parties to lease the till- 
age, the shooting, and the fishing during his life, and to 
expend the income. At his death it goes to his son, 
who has, in the same manner, a mere life occupancy, 
there being no honest, actual fee any where ; or, if it 
exists at all, vesting in a certain abstraction called 
" the family." This word family, too, must be under- 
stood entirely in its English sense. In America, a 
family is a little group of cotemporaries ; father and 
mother, brothers and sisters, all dwelling together un- 
der a common roof, and sharing equally in the present 
blessings and future hopes which fall to their common 
lot. Or, if they are grown up and scattered abroad, 
they are still bound together by a common interest 
and affection, and all stand upon a social level, except 
so far as the sense of equality is modified by a slight 
feeling of deference and respect for the older brother, 
which, however, the lapse of a very few years is found, 
very properly, sufficient to remove. In England a 
family is another thing altogether. Instead of a co- 
temporaneous group, it is a long succession — a line 
coming down from former centuries, and running on 
toward posterity — having only one representative in a 
generation. It is the family in this sense, whose in- 
terest, welfare, and aggrandizement the Englishman 
labors to secure. The American father and mother 
love their children equally. They think far more of 
their own youngest child, actually in existence and in 
their arms, than of all remote posterity together. The 
Englishman, on the other hand, thinks of nothing but the 
line. He sees a long succession, descending from the 
past, and is proud of the distance from which it has 



LEAVING SCOTLAND. 313 

Primogeniture and entail. How the law works in America. 

come in that direction. His highest ambition is to se- 
cure its uninterrupted continuance for as long a period 
as possible to come. For the benefit of this succession, 
of which he can ordinarily know only two individuals 
— the one who precedes, and the one who follows him — 
he postpones the welfare of the whole group of sons 
and daughters that have grown up about his fireside, 
and entwined themselves personally, as one would sup- 
pose, with every affection of his heart. He loves them 
in childhood ; but when they arrive at maturity, they 
are sent forth to the world alone, to sicken and die in 
Jamaica, to wear out an interminable exile on the 
plains of Hindostan, or to wander about the world per- 
petual midshipmen, in order that the eldest son and his 
lineal descendants may be provided for forever. The 
children are given up to be lost, that " ihe family" may 
be aggrandized and saved. 

It is true, that is done often by the operation of the 
laws, the property being entailed, and made to descend 
entire to a single heir, instead of being divided, as with 
us ; but this only shows that the people of England 
pursue this course by their joint action, instead of doing 
it individually. And if the laws were repealed, they 
would probably, in most instances, as I was informed, 
still secure the same end by their wills. In fact, a gen- 
tleman who was seated with me upon the coach, and 
with whom I began to converse on the subject as we 
rode away from Glasgow, expressed surprise when he 
learned from me that real estate could be left by will, in 
America, to any party the testator might please should 
inherit it. "Indeed !" said he ; "I thought the laws re- 
quired its being divided equally." "Not at all," I re- 
plied ; " the laws divide it equally in the absence of 

Dd 



314 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

Founding a family. How the younger sons are provided for, 

any testamentary directions ; but the proprietor may 
convey it, by his will, as he pleases." " Then why 
does not he give it all to his oldest son ?" " Because 
he loves the others just as much as he does him." "But 
does not he want to found a family V added my inter- 
locutor, in a tone of surprise. 

This idea of founding a family, in the sense of a con- 
tinuous line of representatives running down to pos- 
terity, seems to be the great aim of almost all English- 
men who acquire property ; and so prevalent is the 
feeling, that, even if the law of primogeniture were 
abolished, property would be bequeathed very exten- 
sively, if not generally, to the oldest son, to the exclu- 
sion of the others. The younger sons of the great fam- 
ilies are provided for in the army and navy, and in the 
Church. In fact, a large portion of the motive for keep- 
ing up the vast military, and naval, and colonial estab- 
lishments of Great Britain is derived from the necessi- 
ty of making provision for the younger members of fam- 
ihes left destitute by the practice of conferring the pa- 
ternal estates wholly upon the oldest son. To engage 
in any useful employment in the business world would 
be impossible for them, it being not considered genteel. 

There are thus a great many points on which the 
ideas of Englishmen and Americans are entirely op- 
posed to one another; and American travelers are very 
apt not to come very readily to a good understanding 
with their English companions, so far as they are 
thrown into connection with them by the chances of 
travel. There is always a greater or less degree of 
jealousy between two nations who occupy at all the 
position of rivals to one another. No doubt this jeal- 
ousy exists in the case of England and America, and 



LEAVING SCOTLAND. 315 

Erroneous impressions. EngUsli Constitution. Government. 

this feeling is increased by certain erroneous impres- 
sions respecting our country which ahnost universally 
prevail in our father land. 

One of these impressions is, that there is a general 
wish in America that England should be revolution- 
ized, and a republic founded on the ruins of the mon- 
archy. I think it the duty of every American gentle- 
man traveling in Europe to endeavor to remove this 
impression by stating, what is undoubtedly the fact, 
that all intelligent and well-informed Americans wish 
well to England and to the English Constitution as it 
now stands; of course, including such gradual improve- 
ments and progress as it is all the time making to adrfpt 
itself to the advancement of civilization, and to the 
changing spirit of tiie age. Such advances are not 
modifications of the English Constitution, they are only 
the working out of an essential function of the Consti- 
tution itself; for a capacity to follow and adapt itself 
to the progress of the times has always been a remark- 
able feature of this most remarkable bond of union, and 
is as essential a part of it as the provisions for main- 
taining the prerogatives of the crown. With this un- 
derstanding, Americans wish well to the English Con- 
stitution as it is. They desire no sudden or violent 
changes in English society, and no interruption to the 
vast operations of English industry. I do not think 
they wish for any diminution of the extent of English 
power. Wherever this power extends, in whatever 
quarter of the globe, there travelers can go with safe- 
ty — there letters can penetrate, and merchandise be 
sent and sold. It is true that pride and ambition have, 
no doubt, powerfully influenced English statesmen in 
many of their measures ; and English conquest, like all 



316 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 



Value of English influence. Americans wish well to England. 

Other conquest, has often been characterized by injus- 
tice and cruelty. All political action, as the world goes 
at present, is sadly tainted with selfishness and sin ; 
and English administrations undoubtedly share the 
common characters of humanity. But still, after all, 
there has probably been no government since the world 
began that would have exercised the vast powers with 
which the British government has been clothed, in a 
manner more liberal and just, both in respect to her 
own subjects and to foreign nations, than she has ex- 
hibited during the last quarter of a century, and is ex- 
hibiting at the present time. The enormous magni- 
tude of the power she wields, and the extent to which 
its regulating effects are felt throughout the world, ex- 
ert a vast influence on the extension and security of 
commere, and, consequently, on the welfare and phys- 
ical comforts of the human race. In fact, it must be 
so. The English mind is in advance of all other mind 
in the Old World ; they who exercise it are superior to 
all others on that stage ; and if we, on this side of the 
Atlantic, can claim any thing like an equality with 
them, it is only because we are English ourselves, as 
well as they. 

Americans, accordingly, wish well to England, It 
is true, they are pleased to witness the advances which 
the English Constitution is making, especially as they 
tend in the same direction in which society is advanc- 
ing in America. We might even desire to accelerate 
this advance a little in some things. But there is no 
desire to see a violent revolution, which should aim at 
making England democratic in form. In fact, the mo- 
narchical element in the English Constitution is regard- 
ed by thinking men in America as constituting a fai 



LEAVING SCOTLAND. 317 

Prerogative of the crown. The aristocracy. Their purfuits. 

less important point of distinction between tliat gov- 
ernment and ours than would at first be supposed. 
The prerogative of the crown is coming to be, m fact 
it has ah-eady become, httle else than a name. It is 
the function of requesting, in form, the party to take 
power, which Parliament makes dominant in fact. It 
is, in a word, public sentiment which appoints the head 
of the administration, in England as well as in America ; 
the difference being, that in England it is a part, and 
in America the whole, of the community whose voice 
is heard in forming this public sentiment. It is the ex- 
istence of other features altogether in the British sys- 
tem which constitutes the real ground of distinction 
between the political conditions of the two countries. 
Among these the greatest, no doubt, is the provision 
for keeping up a privileged aristocracy, required by the 
conditions of their existence to keep aloof from the use- 
ful pursuits of life. The English think that such a class, 
so elevated, and so privileged, is the ornament and glory 
of social life. Americans, on the other hand, being al- 
ways busy themselves, can not conceive of elegant and 
useful leisure. There is no alternative, in our minds, 
constituted as mankind are, between useful occupation 
and a life of idleness and vice ; and we imagine that a 
hereditary aristocracy, monopolizing the wealth of the 
country, and forbidden to be useful, must, in general, 
be driven to spend their time and their fortunes in vi- 
cious indulgences and pleasures. They will look down 
with contempt on the great functions of society, which 
they are taught that it is ungenteel to share, and addict 
themselves to pursuits which must draw every vice in 
their train. These ideas, which our general notions on 
the subject lead us to form, are confirmed by the stories 
Dd2 



318 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

Evil tendencies of an aristocracy. The monarchical principle. 

With which we find England filled, of the hunting, the 
horse-racing, the gaming of the nobility ; the reckless- 
ness with which they make their shooting and cours- 
ing paramount to the agricultural interests of the 
land ; their family feuds ; their licentiousness ; and the 
restraints they impose upon the extension or the com- 
forts of the population, in order to keep vast tracts of 
land in the condition of gloomy solitudes, quiet and re- 
tired for their shooting. It is undoubtedly true, there- 
fore, that if an intelligent portion of the population of 
America were to be suddenly put in possession of the 
institutions and island of Great Britain, they would at 
once abolish the laws of primogeniture and entail ; they 
would adopt vote by ballot, and considerably extend 
the right of suffrage ; but they would be very slow to 
encroach on the ancient prerogatives of the crown. 
They would consider the royal scepter as now power- 
less for any considerable evil, and would be strongly 
inclined to let it stand as a venerable hereditament, 
which, as it might be preserved without injury, it would 
be unwise to destroy. 

On expressing such sentiments as these to my com- 
panion upon the coach, he advanced the opinion, which 
almost all Englishmen entertain, that things are tend- 
ing toward a monarchy in America, and that before 
many years elapse we shall have a king. This is 
doubtless a great error, I explained to him that the 
real state of the case is, that there is in America far 
less hostility to other people's kings than is generally 
supposed, without there being the least approach to- 
ward a desire to have one of our own. The tenden- 
cy every where throughout the world, and more than 
any where else, in America, is exactly in the contrary 



LEAVING SCOTLAND. 319 



Electing the judges. Functions of government in Europe and in America. 



direction. Tiie progress which the doctrines of civil 
government are malcing in this country is toward the 
divesting of central governments of their power, and 
distributing their functions among the people, each to 
be exercised by those most immediately interested in 
its proper fulfillment. English gentlemen hardly be- 
lieved my statement credible when I told them, in il- 
lustration of this, that in New York we were trying 
the experiment of allowing the people to elect their 
judges by ballot, and for short periods of service. 
" Elect the judges !" they would say, " and by ballot ! 
And what prevents their electing the very worst in the 
community?" "Nothing; they can if they choose. 
It is just like the presidency of one of your rail-way 
companies. What prevents the shareholders from 
choosing the most incompetent man in the compa- 
ny to manage their affairs ?" " Why, their own in- 
terest." " Exactly ; and it is just so with the people 
of a district in America. They have a strong person- 
al interest in having a competent man to settle their 
disputes. Besides, if they choose to leave questions of 
property or crime arising among them to bad or inca- 
pable men, the doctrine in America is, that the rest of 
the world have no occasion to interfere. They are to 
be left to have their own way, till they acquire wisdom 
by experience. Our idea of government is not that of 
a great central power at Washington, to extend its 
view over the whole country, and take all the inter- 
ests of the community under its paternal surveillance. 
The sole business of government is, with us, to protect 
people from being injured by other persons. We do 
not consider it necessary to provide for governmental 
interference to keep Yankees from injuring themselves. 



320 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

The "people." Landholders in England and in America. 

These kind of doctrines, which, however, I simply i 
quoted as the prevailing sentiment in our country, 
without saying whether they were or were not my 
own, always excite much surprise in the minds of Eu- 
ropeans, who are accustomed to look upon a govern- 
ment as all in all, a universally pervading power hav- 
ing the supervision of all the interests of society, and 
responsible for every thing, within and without, in all 
its workings. 

One ground of the difficulty which the English have 
in understanding how it is that so much can be safely 
left to the population itself in America, arises from the 
erroneous ideas they have of the character and con- 
dition of this population. The word people includes, 
in English ideas, an enormous mass of ignorant, shift- 
less, destitute laborers, who have no property to pro- 
tect of their own, and no interest in the protection 
of the property of those above them. There is no 
such class in America ; or, at least, it is so small that 
it may be safely left out of the account. The real 
power is exercised in one country, as in the other, by 
the land owners. The difference is, that in England 
the landed proprietors are a small class, consisting ol 
the oldest sons of oldest sons ; whereas in America 
they are the whole population. This is not literally 
and exactly true, but it is so substantially and gen- 
erally. If you take away from the number of the 
voters in America all owners of houses and farms, and 
also all who do not own houses or farms because they 
are engaged in other business affording them more 
profitable employment for their capital, the number 
left, that is, the number who are not proprietors of land 
on account of their poverty, is, at least in all the North- 



r 



LEAVING SCOTLAND. 321 

Doctrine of equality in America. Equality of rights, not of condition. 

ern slates, extremely small. They exercise no appre- 
ciable influence upon the management of the public af- 
fairs of the country. 

There is another point on which Englishmen very 
frequently misconceive the state of things on this side 
the water; I refer to the idea they have of our doc- 
trine of equality. They always seem to imagine that 
we consider all men equal in fact, in this country ; 
whereas, what we consider is simply that all men are 
entitled to the enjoyment of equal rights. Differences 
of birth, of education, of talents, attainments, wealth, 
and position make a vast difference in the degree of 
consideration which various individuals enjoy in this 
country, as in all others. Nor have we any theories 
of equality which, however fully carried out, are in- 
consistent with this. We give to every man a share 
in whatever advantages the laws and institutions of 
society can afford to those who live under them, with- 
out imagining at all that any sort of equality of condi- 
tion will result, or ought to result. We are all willing 
that one man shall be higher than another ; but only 
that no man shall be raised to such position through 
the partiality and favoritism of the laws of the land, 
either toward him as an individual or toward his class. 
Thus it is not equality of condition, but equality of 
rights, \\\qX Americans insist upon. They wish to be 
independent of each other, each having his own wel- 
fare and happiness, as much as possible, in his own 
hands. Thus an American is willing that his neighbor 
should be higher than he, but he must not be directly 
over him. He is never content, therefore, permanently, 
in the position of a servant or of a tenant, or in any 
position of continued and direct dependence upon an- 



322 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

American independence. English feeling. Instance. 

Other man. He will live cheerfully in an humble cabin 
and upon coarse food, if the cabin is his own, and if he 
does not feel indebted to any body for his right to earn 
his humble subsistence. It does not disturb him to 
have a wealthy neighbor, provided he is himself inde- 
pendent of him ; but he can not brook a landlord or a 
master. He is willing, in a word, to be in the forest 
of life a small tree ; but he can not bear to be a mere 
sucker from a great one. 

The Englishman, on the other hand, feels no objec- 
tion to being a sort of link in a gradation, a dependency 
on something above him, and a supporter or governor 
of something below. He even derives a sense of dig- 
nity in himself, from the dignity of the power under 
which he is accustomed to bow. On coming across 
the English Channel, toward the last of September, 
we landed at Folkestone, where our trunks and carpet 
bags were all examined at the custom-house. In the 
omnibus which took us from the custom-house to the 
rail-way station, a respectable-looking young woman, 
who was seated next to me, seemed agitated and dis- 
tressed. I asked her if she had had any trouble at the 
custom-house, and she replied that they had used her 
very ill indeed. Her lip quivered and tears came into 
her eyes. As soon, however, as she recovered a little 
composure, she explained to me that they had found 
some letters in her trunk, given to her by some friends 
in Paris to take to England, and that they had taken 
them all away, and had told her that they should fine 
her twenty pounds. I endeavored to quiet her fears, 
by telling her that it was, indeed, contrary to law to 
carry letters in that way, but that I did not think they 
would really exact the fine ; that I thought it was only 



I 



LEAVING SCOTLAND. 323 

Belonging to a marquis. Slavery. How the subject is introduced. 

a threat ; for, if they really meant to require the money, 
they would have detained her till it was paid. They 
would have no means of finding her again. " Oh, yes," 
said she, " I belong to the Marquis of Montgomery, 
and they can find me very easily." 

I employ a fictitious name instead of the one which 
she really gave me, and I fail to represent the tone of 
suppressed pride and pleasure with which she announ- 
ced to us her position in the social scale. We rode on 
towai'd the station in silence, she comforted in some 
degree by my encouragement and sympathy, and I 
musing on the strange possibility of a human soul being 
in such a state that it could derive a feeling of satisfac- 
tion and pleasure for itself from the grandeur of the 
personage to whom it belonged. 

In conversations between Americans and English- 
men, on the political and social condition of their re- 
spective countries, the subject of slavery is almost al- 
ways introduced. In some cases it is brought forward 
in a taunting or reproachful manner, personally disre- 
spectful to the American addressed. Generally, how- 
ever, so far as my experience goes, it is quite other- 
wise, the subject being introduced and discussed in a 
gentlemanly and proper way ; and in this way it is, of 
course, perfectly right to introduce any great social 
or political evils, real or imaginary, in the conversation 
which takes place among men of different nations, as 
they meet casually on the great thoroughfares of life. 
No American ought, therefore, to take offense at the 
mere fact of the bringing forward of this subject on 
such occasions. 

When the subject is thus introduced, the reply of 
Americans from the free states very generally is, that 



324 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

Defense. Its grounds. 

slavery is an evil, but that we, of the said free states, are 
personally not at all responsible for it, it being exclu- 
sively a state institution, and of course lying solely under 
the power of the states which tolerate it. We then pro- 
ceed to explain, what very few Englishmen understand, 
that our union is not a confederation of subordinate 
states, with a general government supreme over the 
local governments, and having them, in some sense, 
under its control. It is, on the other hand, a great 
community, exercising a portion of its sovereignty in 
one way, and through one set of agents, and another 
portion in another way, and by means of another set of 
agents, each organization being independent of the 
other, and each being supreme in its own province. 
Thus all that relates to the internal arrangements of 
society is controlled entirely by the local govern- 
ments, the general government having no responsibil- 
ity in respect to these subjects, as well as no control. 
It is only our dealings with foreign nations, and the 
affairs of the post-office, which we manage by the gen- 
eral government, and in acting through this general 
government, we are not acting as a confederation of 
smaller governments at all. We melt together, as it 
were, into one great people, for the exercise of all that 
portion of the sovereignty which is involved in the regu- 
lation of foreign affairs, including among foreign affairs 
every thing beyond the confines, territorial or legal, of 
states actually organized as members of the union. It 
is only, therefore, so far as we have dealings with for- 
eign nations that we are one. In other respects we 
are many, and this, as we of the north often maintain, 
exonerates us from all responsibility for the local law 
of slavery. 



I 



LEAVING SCOTLAND. 325 

Nature of the American government. National territories. 



Now this would be a good and valid ground of de- 
fense, were it not that, in order to enable our govern- 
ment to manage properly its dealings with foreign na- 
tions — which, of course, includes the regulation of com- 
merce, the management of the navy, the army, and the 
dealings with Indian tribes — certain territories are held, 
some temporai'ily and some permanently, under the 
exclusive control of the national government. The 
navy-yards, the forts, the western territories in some 
sense, and especially, and above all the rest, the Dis- 
trict of Columbia, are examples of this kind ; and I do 
not see why mankind at large may not justly hold us, 
as a nation, responsible for the institutions which, as a 
nation, we allow to prevail in these possessions. So 
long as the government retains the institution of slavery 
in the District of Columbia, the government is a slave- 
holder, and all its constituents must bear their share of 
the responsibility. 

It may be said that it would be wrong for the gov- 
ernment to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia, 
for that would be an interference with the private 
rights of the inhabitants, the institution of slavery hav- 
ing existed there before it was set apart for the uses of 
the national administration. This may, perhaps, be 
true ; but the taking of that position is an abandonment 
of the ground that the nation is not responsible. It ad- 
mits that national laws sustain slavery, but claims that 
they do so for good reason. So that, in any view of the 
subject, it seems to be right for Europeans to hold us 
all to a certain share of responsibility for the existence 
and continuance of slavery in the world. We may 
admit that slavery is morally wrong, and declare that 
we, personally, would have it abolished in all the na- 



S26 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

Responsibility of Americans. A remedy for the evil. 

tional dominions if we could, submitting, in the mean 
time, to the censure which we think our allowing it to 
continue deserves ; or we may maintain that it is in 
itself a political evil, which can not be eradicated with- 
out bringing greater evils in its stead, and thus defend 
its present continuance ; or we may contend that in the 
case of a superior and inferior race, inhabiting the 
same country, and distinguished from each other by 
strongly marked physical peculiarities, it is the right 
and proper relation to exist between them ; but we can 
not with propriety claim that we of the north have 
nothing to do with the question. To acknowledge 
that our national slavery is wrong, is candid. To main- 
tain that it is right, is at least open and manly ; but to 
deny our own concern with it, is an unworthy attempt 
to evade a responsibility to which the world at large 
justly hold us, and which we ought to acknowledge. 
For my own part, I do not hesitate to acknowledge on 
all occasions that I think it entirely inconsistent with 
the theoretical principles which this nation advances, 
in respect to the personal liberty of man, and the equal- 
ity of his rights, that slavery should be tolerated in any 
portion of the national territory. The states that 
choose to retain this institution in their own proper 
dominions ought not to ask that the whole confedera- 
tion should be placed in so false a position before the 
world as they are compelled to occupy under present 
circumstances. If there are insuperable objections to 
the extinction of slavery in the District of Columbia, 
thei'e can be none to a removal of the seat of govern- 
ment to another place, in order that the responsibility 
before the world of sustaining this institution may rest 
alone upon those who claim the exclusive power to 



f 



LEAVING SCOTLAND. 327 

Tenantry better than slaves. Stage-coach. Gretna Green. Entering Ensland. 

control it ; and, in common with all the friends of hu- 
manity among mankind, I hope the time may soon 
come when, in every land, those whom Providence 
has made superior to their fellow-men in intelligence 
and power shall prefer to have their lands tilled by a 
tenantry rather than by slaves. 

But to return to the stage-coach. We trotted briskly 
on for several hours, when at length we stopped at an 
inn to change the horses ; and the coachman, advanc- 
ing to us and touching his hat, said, in an official air, 
" Coachman leaves here, if you please, sir." This 
was in token of there being a shilling or two to pay 
from each of the passengers. It was the same with 
the guard. After being transferred, accordingly, to 
the care of a new coachman and guard, we galloped 
on again until at length, in the latter part of the day, 
we reached a pleasant little village on the confines of 
Scotland. It was Gretna Green. The coachman 
pointed out to us a handsome white house — back from 
the road, and visible only, as we passed, through a 
beautiful vista of shrubbery and foliage — where the 
marriage ceremony for the English fugitives was 
generally performed. The coachman stopped at the 
toll-gate near, and brought us out some blank cer- 
tificates of marriage, such as are used on such occa- 
sions. 

We crossed a bridge over a small stream, and en- 
tered England ; and a few miles further on we reach- 
ed Carlisle, the present northern terminus of the rail- 
way from the south, on the western side of the island. 
Here our company was transferred to the cars, and we 
went on at redoubled speed. It was Saturday after- 
noon. I wanted to find a quiet, rural village where 1 



328 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

Sueking a quiet reti'eat. The lakes. Rural scenery. 

could spend the Sabbath in some new scene, but was 
without any plan for finding it. 

Now there is, as perhaps the reader is aware, in the 
northwestern part of England a region of mountains 
and lakes, famous all over the world for its romantic 
beauty. It is a continuation, doubtless, of the same 
geological formation which, further northward, produ- 
ces the Highlands and islands of Scotland. The scen- 
ery around these English lakes is less wild and gloomy, 
but far more cultivated and beautiful than further north. 
A branch of the rail-way diverged into this scene, leav- 
ing the great southern line at Kendal. Reflecting that 
it would, probably, be useless to ask any questions of 
my fellow-passengers, since they would have very lit- 
tle idea of what would please me for a Sabbath retreat, 
I concluded to allow myself to be conveyed quietly on 
to the end of the branch, which I was told terminated 
at Windermere, a name associated with the highest 
ideas of rural and romantic beauty. 

When we left the main line, the portion of the train 
which was detached to go away from the great busi- 
ness thoroughfare, in order to penetrate the region of 
romance and beauty, was very small. A few cars, 
freighted with tourists, with students, and with bridal 
parties, was all. As we rolled rapidly on, mountains 
began to rise around us, and vistas of lovely valleys 
opened here and there to our view. Instead, however, 
of being characterized by the dark and somber, though 
beautiful loneliness of the Highland glens, they present- 
ed on every side enchanting pictures of rural plenty 
and peace. They were fertile beyond description, en- 
livened with villages, adorned with villas and parks, 
and with the indications, every where, of an abundant 



LEAVING SCOTLAND. 329 

Station-houses. Sunset. Windermere. 

harvest just secured. The rail-way, however, seemed 
an intruder in such a scene. In fact, it was yet incom- 
plete ; and its broken embankments and unfinished 
walls, and its deposits of materials, laid here and there, 
yet to be employed in the completion of the work, or in 
the erection of station-houses, contrasted strongly with 
the smooth, green fields, the verdant lawns, and the 
ancient walls, and gardens, and plantations through 
which the engineers had ruthlessly cut their way. Oc- 
casionally we stopped a few minutes at a station, the 
buildings being of stone, and of a highly ornamental 
style of architecture, which appeared somewhat fan- 
tastic, while thus unfinished and new, but which will 
be picturesque and beautiful when the vegetation shall 
have closed around them a little, and their colors shall 
have been somewhat mellowed by time. At these 
points we left sometimes a few passengers, and some- 
times a car, the train diminishing thus, gradually, till 
it assumed a character quite in keeping with the still- 
ness and quiet of the scene into which it was making 
its way. The scenery became more wild. The sun 
went down. The mountains and valleys assumed a 
darker aspect in the evening air. A new feature ot 
life was introduced into the scene, however, in the wa- 
ters of a lake which presently came into view in the 
bottom of a long valley on the confines of which we 
were traveling. The rosy light of the western sky 
was reflected for a few minutes in those waters, but it 
faded gradually away, and left to the lake its proper 
nocturnal expression of loneliness and solitude. We 
advanced until the level on which the road was con- 
structed could no longer be continued, and then our en- 
gine, with the single car which remained attached to 
E E 2 



330 SUMMER IN SCOTLAND. 

Evening scene. The inn at Windermere. A walk in the twilight. 

it, came to a stand. The little evening light which re- 
mained showed us a country of parks, gardens, and 
plantations, presenting all around an enchanting picture 
of rural beauty. A high mountain rose on one side. 
On the other lay extended a broad, irregular valley, 
with the lake in the bed of it. This lake was Winder- 
mere. Its shores presented every variety of conforma- 
tion — here, bold and picturesque ; there, level and 
smooth. Islands rose from the surface of the water, 
wooded promontories projected from the land, and 
here and there a sail-boat, which had lingered on the 
lake beyond its time, its useless sail still expanded, 
struggled with its oars to regain the shore. Beyond 
the valley, the forms of dark, distant mountains were 
relieved against the evening sky. 

Upon a small platform of elevated land just above 
the station stood an inn, built like a castle. Some of 
the tourists ascended to it by a winding walk. Others 
were transferred to a coach, which was to take them 
down the valley to Ambleside. I ascended to the inn, 
ordered dinner, and, while it was preparing, began to 
mount a hill behind the house, which seemed to be a 
sort of stepping-stone to the mountains beyond. I walk- 
ed along a little path through recently-reaped fields, 
with a high wall on one side, which shut me out from 
some gentleman's park, or pleasure-grounds. Groups 
of trees were scattered here and there, and old walls 
and hedges, over and through which I made my way 
slowly in the dimness of the twilight. I seated myself 
on the rocks at the summit, and looked far and wide 
over the valleys which were spread out before me. 
Lights began to glimmer here and there from the quiet 
English homes with which these valleys were filled. 



LEAVING SCOTLAND. 331 

The last view. The summer ended and gone. 

The lake resumed its reflections of the evening sky in 
its sheltered parts, and was ruffled by the evening breeze 
in others. The scene was impressive, and almost sol- 
emn. But it soon became too cool for me to remain, 
notwithstanding the protection of the Highland plaid, 
which almost every tourist has around him in coming 
out of Scotland. I reflected that it was September, 
and that I was in England. My summer in Scotland 
was ended and gone. 



THE END. 



WORKS ON EDUCATION, 



FROM THE 



INSTITUTIONS OF MESSRS. ABBOTT, N. Y. CITY. 



The Teacher ; or. Moral Influences emfloyed in the Instruction 
and Government of the Young. By Jacob Abbott. 

This book is intended to detail, in a practical and familiar man- 
ner, a system of arrangements for the organization and manage- 
ment of a School, based on the employment of Moral Influences, so 
far as practicable, as a means of effecting the object in view. Its 
design is not to bring forward new theories or plans for those 
already successfully engaged in the work of education, but to de- 
velop and explain, and carry out to their practical applications, such 
principles as among all skillful and experienced teachers are gene- 
rally admitted and acted upon, and to present these principles in a 
practical form for the use of those who are beginning the work, and 
who wish to avail themselves of the experience which others have 
acquired. The work has been published some years, has been 
highly commended by the best authorities, and has a very wide and 
increasing circulation both in this country and in England. Pub- 
lished by H. & E. Phinney, Cooperstown, N. Y., and for sale by 
the booksellers generally. 

Abbott's Drawin(? Cards. — The great desirableness of intro- 
ducing Drawing in the schools of our country has been long felt ; 
but as teachers generally have had but little knowledge of the art, 
it has been thought very difficult to devise any plan by which the 
olgect could be effected. The only solution of tlie question seems 



f 



to be, that one generation should teach itself, with the encour- 
agement and aid of teachers and superintendents, after which 
this branch may stand upon the same footing with all others. 
To this end, a great number of Drawing Patterns of a very- 
simple and yet of a very practical character must be fur- 
nished, to be imitated by the pupils under the general supervision 
of the teacher, but without the necessity of any special knowledge 
of the art on his part. A great number of these cards have accord- 
ingly been published, and the plan has been tried with great suc- 
cess in many schools. The cards can be distributed and inter- 
changed from day to day, so that a set, costing fifty cents, will sup- 
ply a considerable school with lessons for three months. There 
are several series already issued, as follows : 

AbbotCs Brawmg Cards. — Elements, Outlines, Landscapes, Cot- 
tages, Animals, Heads. 

The above are lithographed. Each set contains 32 Cards, about 
three inches by six, neatly put up in a case. Other series are in 
course of preparation. The above are published by Clark & Austin, 
New York, and are for sale by B. B. Mussey &, Co., Boston, and 
by the booksellers generally. 

Abbott's Common School Drawing Cards. — This series is de- 
signed expressly for Common Schools. The designs are simple, 
and each card contains practical directions to the pupil. There 
are forty cards in a set, put up like those of the other series 
in a neat case, upon which are directions for the teachers, such as 
to enable them to introduce the exercise without any particular 
knowledge of drawing themselves. The plan wherever introduced 
is found to work very successfully. Published and for sale by 
Collins & Brother, New York, and B. B. Mussey &. Co., Boston, 
and by the booksellers generally. 

Mount Vernon Arithmetic. By Jacob Abbott. Part I. Ele- 
mentary. Part n. Fractions. — Teachers are invited to examine 
these works, which are constructed on a plan materially different 
from that of the books in common use. The various principles in- 
volved in the several arithmetical processes are unfolded in a very 
clear and gradual manner, each being illustrated by a great number 
of examples of nearly equal difficulty, so that the pupils have a full 
supply of materials for practice without continually applying to the 



teacher for explanation and aid. Thus the labor of the teacher is 
greatly abridged, abundance of pleasant and profitable employment 
is furnished for the pupils, and the knowledge which they acquire 
of the subject is of the most thorough and profitable character. 

These books contain, also, a series of exercises, on an entirely 
new plan, for teaching the art of adding up columns of figures with 
facility and correctness. These exercises are to be practised in 
classes, and are found very successful wherever they are intro- 
duced. They are put up and sold separately, as stated below. 

The above works are published and for sale by Collins & Bro- 
ther, New York. 

Abbott's Addition Columns, for Teaching the Art of Rapid 
Adding. — This work, in twenty-four pages 12mo., consists of a 
series of exercises to be practised by classes in concert, for learn- 
ing the art of running up columns of figures with facility and cor- 
rectness, and is found very successful in accomplishing the end 
intended. A practice of ten or fifteen minutes each day is suffi- 
cient, and all the scholars in arithmetic in a whole school may form 
one class. 

The price of the book, neatly put up in printed covers, is seventy- 
five cents per dozen ; and each copy will answer for two pupils. 
Published and for sale by Clark & Austin, New York ; Collins & 
Brother, do. ; Benj. B. Mussey dz- Co., Boston ; and by booksellers 
generally. 

The Young Astronomer. By John S. C. Abbott. — Most treatises 
upon Astronomy contain much which is unintelligible to those who 
have not passed through a regular course of mathematical studies. 
It is, however, very desirable that all the youth in our schools should 
be familiar with those simple yet sublime facts which have been de- 
veloped by this science. To present these facts in language which 
can be comprehended by every good understanding in our common 
schools and academies is the object of this work. It is hoped that 
it may incite a deeper interest in the study of this most noble of al] 
the sciences ; that it may disseminate widely in the popular mind 
an acquaintance with those truths which are so eminently calcu- 
lated to elevate the understanding and to ennoble the heart, and 
that many may be induced to prosecute the study into those 



higher regions of mathematical inquiries which can call into requi- 
sition all the energies of a Newton and a Herschel. — Sold by J. C. 
Riker, 129 Fulton st., N. Y. 

The Practical Book of Composition. By Edward A. Morgan. 
Principal of the English Department, Mount Vernon School, 
New York. 

This little work is prepared like a common copy-book, with en- 
gravings at the head of each page. The engravings are selected 
with a reference to the furnishing of proper subjects to interest the 
youthful mind. A few simple directions on the cover will guide 
the different grades of pupils in the particular course they are to 
follow in writing their compositions ; so that the book may be as 
useful to the more advanced scholar as to the beginner. On the 
third page of the cover is a short description of each engraving, 
suggesting the peculiarities of the picture, which the pupil will do 
well to notice in the description which may be written. 

The plan on which this book is arranged has been successfully 
tried by several eminent teachers with entire satisfaction, and is 
presented to the public with the hope that it may prove as useful 
to others as it has been to those who have used it. 

The above work is sold at twelve and a-half cents, and may be 
obtained of the publishers, Clark & Austin, New York ; Benj. B. 
Mussey & Co., Boston ; and of booksellers generally. 




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